Donegal singer Daniel O’Donnell was at the airport in Chicago about to board a flight to Dublin when he heard the breaking news of the explosion in Creeslough.
By the time he arrived in Dublin he learned of the full scale of the disaster, he told RTÉ Radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show.
“Everybody knows somebody in Donegal. Ireland is like that,” he added. At the airport he met a young woman who told him that her husband’s first cousin was one of the victims.
There were no words to express how people must be feeling. Creeslough as such a small community, everybody knew everybody and many were related, it was “beyond comprehension” what had happened.
He had been in the shop paying for diesel during the summer. “That’s what someone did, never knowing what was ahead of them. In that split second their life was changed. It doesn’t bear thinking about”.
The singer attended a service of remembrance in Dublin on Sunday night which consisted mostly of music and meditation. There were 10 candles on the altar representing the 10 victims.
“All we can do is pray for them, that’s all we can do at this time”.
There was nothing that could be said or done to take away the sense of loss being experienced by the people who had lost loved ones, he said.
Mr O’Donnell urged survivors, even those who did not have any physical injuries, to not “hold in” their feelings and to seek out help. That was important as issues such as nervousness could develop “down the road”.
