Some ambulance workers from Northern Ireland could not assist in an explosion just across the border in Donegal because of visa issues.
Ten people died in an explosion at a petrol station in Creeslough on the 7th of October last year.
It was revealed at the The British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly yesterday that some ambulances from Derry could not help because “some paramedics did not have the necessary visas” to cross the border.
Emergency services from the North assisted in the Creeslough explosion, including fire crews, search and rescue teams and the air ambulance.
However some ambulance crews based at Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry were unable to cross the border a few miles away because of issues with the Common Travel Area, an agreement that allows UK and Irish citizens to travel freely into each other’s countries.
However, those rights do not extend to migrants living on either side of the border, so some migrants who work for the emergency services were unable to travel to Donegal.
