NI ambulance service refute Creeslough claims

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) has rejected claims that visa issues prevented some of its paramedics from responding to the Creeslough explosion.

The NIAS say that its response to the blast in October 2022 was ‘not affected in any way due to border or visa issues’. Indeed, they said that the suggestion was ‘totally without foundation’.

At an inquiry by the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly into the operation of the Common Travel Area (CTA) agreement, Senator Emer Currie made the claims.

“Some ambulances from Northern Ireland could not assist during the explosion that occurred in Creeslough because not all of the paramedics had the necessary visas to cross the invisible border,” Senator Currie said.

“The electronic travel authorisation scheme in its current form undermines the Common Travel Area and will damage tourism primarily in Northern Ireland and the North West of Ireland.”

The deadly explosion at the Applegreen complex in Creeslough killed ten people.

In response to the comments from Senator Currie, NIAS said: “No NIAS staff were prevented in crossing the border for any reason and we are deeply concerned at any reports suggesting this, as such comments will be deeply upsetting to the victims and families who were and still are affected by this tragedy.”

The NIAS detailed that it received an emergency call for assistance at 3.37pm on October 7, 2022.

NIAS said that it ‘immediately’ dispatched a range of resources including the Air Ambulance with its Helicopter Emergency Medical Team, as well as a specialist Hazardous Area Response Team, ambulance officers, paramedics and emergency medical technicians.

Non-emergency transport crews were also dispatched to assist the National Ambulance Service. NIAS say it dispatched further crews later that evening to relieve those who had responded during the afternoon.

NIAS said: “Our HART team and Emergency Planning resources remained on scene overnight and well into the weekend as they worked with our colleagues in the National Ambulance Service to continue rescue and recovery efforts.

“The unstable condition of the building made this a very difficult and dangerous scene, but our HART crews are specifically trained to deal with such incidents. Sadly, our crews also assisted in transporting some of the deceased to the mortuary in Letterkenny.

“Our thoughts remain with our colleagues, friends and neighbours who were affected by this incident, and in particular those in the Creeslough community who were directly impacted.”.

The CTA is an agreement between the Republic and the United Kingdom, which allows citizens to travel freely into each other's countries. Those rights do not extend to migrants living on either side of the border, even if they hold lawful residency.