A Garda leader who was one of the first responders to the Creeslough tragedy fought back tears yesterday as he paid tribute to the emergency services who battled to save lives at the scene.
Garda Brendan O’Connor told the Irish Mirror: “I saw people act with the utmost professionalism and treat the victims with such dignity and respect.”
The officer, who is president of the Garda Representative Association that represents 11,500 rank and file members, was on duty on Friday and was involved in the rescue.
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The Dunfanaghy-based garda was still at the scene of the tragedy yesterday and said the dedication of all the emergency services who rushed to the scene was phenomenal. Standing yards from the Applegreen Service Station that was the scene of the horror that left 10 people dead, the Dunfanaghy-based Garda said the first responders put themselves in harm’s way.
He added: “At the moment we’re just on autopilot with my colleagues that have just done so much work on behalf of bereaved families.
“I have to pay tribute to my colleagues that have done Trojan work in the past few days since the initial report came in and to now where the investigation is starting to progress and become more technical now that the initial response and recovery is over. But I have to pay tribute to the courage, dedication and commitment of the members I represent.
“It was nothing short of phenomenal what I witnessed here since last Friday afternoon.
“Members rushed to the scene, put themselves in harm’s way.
“They were there to support our other colleagues in the other services to ensure they could carry out their
function.
“And unfortunately when the recovery operation got to an advanced stage, our members were providing their function both as investigators and in relation to their obligations under the coroner’s act which was very traumatic and very difficult. It was truly humbling.”
Garda O’Connor also said the force had well-established protocols to help any members of the force who are affected by incidents while on duty.
He added: “The welfare response and support available to our members is probably a little bit tiered as the first line of defence is our peer support network which is just fellow officers of any rank within the organisation who will reach out and ask if they want to chat and how they feel about things.
“When an incident like this occurs we generally have a critical incident debriefing which has a welfare aspect to it so maybe the members involved get together and talk about their
experiences if they wish to speak or maybe just listen to what others have experienced.
“So it’s just a kind of a collective approach to support each other and be there for each other.
“There’ll be professional services available and there will also be a confidential counselling service for any member to phone 24/7.
“Certainly I think a lot of members are getting some solace and support from the outreach from the community and the expressions of gratitude from the community and from the people who have been directly affected by this absolutely tragic incident.”
The officer also paid tribute to local people for the support they had shown emergency crews.
He added: “The community couldn’t have done more.
“Since the call came in, the support we’ve got, it’s such a simple thing but to have the sustenance of food and hydration, it’s just kept people going. It was amazing.”
Meanwhile, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris also visited the scene yesterday – and spoke to his officers who were involved in the rescue operation.
The doctor who coordinated the medical response also spoke yesterday and said he was amazed by the
efforts of all the rescuers, including civilians.
Dr Gerry Lane, a consultant in emergency medicine, told RTE Radio One’s This Week programme: “I saw people in shorts and flip flops wrenching corrugated iron away with their bare hands.
“The love that those people were showing for their community, friends and family – I stood there and was amazed but also terrified.
“Those people were heroic but were placing themselves in a great deal of danger.”
Dr Lane confirmed that three rescue workers were injured on Friday and received treatment.
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