Response of NI ambulances to Creeslough not affected by visa issues according to Northern Irish Ambulance Service

In a statement released by the Northern Irish Ambulance, The (NIAS) has rejected a claim made at a British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly meeting that some ambulance crews were unable to offer aid after last year’s Creeslough tragedy because visa rules prevented foreign-born paramedics crossing the Border.

The disclosure about the Altnagelvin Hospital- based ambulances in Derry was made to an inquiry led by the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly.

The information was presented to the Assembly in Kildare by Senator Emer Currie, Chair of the Sovereign Affairs Committee report on Common Travel Area.

Fine Gael Senator Emer Currie told the assembly "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".

A gas explosion took place at an Apple Green in Creeslough Donegal on the 7th of October 2022. The explosion killed 10 people. Their names were: Robert Garwe and his five-year-old daughter Shauna Flanagan-Garwe; Jessica Gallagher; Martin McGill; Sydney native James O’Flaherty; Catherine O’Donnell and her 13-year-old son James Monaghan; shop worker Martina Martin; 14-year-old Leona Harper; and Hugh Kelly.

Since the finding was submitted to the British-Irish Parlimentary Assembly today, the Northern Irish Ambulance Service have taken to X (the social media website formerly known as Twitter) to say that these findings were "totally without foundation".

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service has been made aware of claims that our response to the Creeslough tragedy was impacted negatively as a result of some staff not having visas. This story is TOTALLY without foundation and we will issue a fuller statement to address this

— NIAS (@NIAS999) October 25, 2023

In a statement issued on their website the NIAS said "We wish to put on record that the NIAS response to Creeslough was not affected in any way due to border or visa issues. 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 Northern Irish Ambulance service stated that a "Memorandum of Understanding" is in place between NIAS and the Republic of Ireland National Ambulance Service since September 2019 to provide for cross-border assistance in the management and resourcing of emergency and urgent calls, cross-border assistance, and in a declared major incident.

The Creeslough tragedy constituted a major incident and was attended to by the NIAS' Hazardous Area Response Team, ambulance officers, paramedics and emergency medical technicians as well as some of our non-emergency transport crews to assist our colleagues in the National Ambulance Service.

The HART team and Emergency Planning resources remained on scene overnight and well into the weekend as they worked with the National Ambulance Service to continue rescue and recovery efforts. The crews also assisted in transporting the deceased to the Letterkenny mortuary.

The NIAS clarified the position of crew members who do not have the necessary EU residency and work permits: "As part of our preparation for EU Exit, NIAS identified a very small number of our staff who were non- EU nationals and worked with them in regards to the necessary legislation to continue to work unhindered".

The NIAS concluded their statement with: "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".

Hot Press reached out to the office of Emer Currie but as of yet have received no response.