Woman orphaned by Stardust fire wants new inquest
A WOMAN who lost both her parents in the Stardust tragedy has given her support for a new inquest for the first time.
Lisa Lawlor, 38, who was just 17 months old when her parents died, said yesterday that she had not been strong enough to speak out before.
She said: ‘I went through intensive counselling for years, I was afraid of what I would hear and see if I joined the campaign. I wasn’t strong enough, I wanted to ignore it, and I can’t ignore it any more. We need closure. I can’t live with not knowing.’
As many as 48 people were killed and 200 were injured on Valentine’s Day 1981, in the Stardust nightclub in the Artane area of Dublin.
A tribunal held in the year following the fire, chaired by Judge Ronan Keane, was labelled flawed and the conclusion was contested by the victims’ families.
He concluded the cause of the fire was probably arson.
In 2009, an independent examination into the tribunal reported there was no evidence to support Judge Keane’s finding that the fire was started deliberately near the ballroom of the nightclub.
Families have campaigned for a fresh inquiry ever since the report. The latest rejection came late in 2017. Now the families have launched a fresh postcard campaign appealing to the Attorney General Séamus Woulfe SC for a new inquiry.
Antoinette Keegan, who lost two sisters in the fire, hit out at Government inaction. ‘We have huge political support across the board, except from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. The State have an obligation for a criminal investigation. In 37 years the victims have become insignificant. Finian McGrath [TD for Dublin Bay North] refused to sign the postcard. He was elected saying he would support the campaign.
‘We asked him for help and he’s not giving it, he’s not pushing it as far as he should be. We’re a nuisance to this Government. They want us to go away. Leo Varadkar and Charlie Flanagan can get this inquest reopened and we won’t be stopping until it is.’
Mr McGrath rejects the claims. He said: ‘That is a complete distortion of my position on the Stardust fire tragedy. I met the families recently and said I would raise their concerns with the Attorney General and the Government.’
The postcard campaign hopes to see 48,000 postcards signed in support of the new inquest, 1,000 for each victim. The Department of Justice, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have been contacted for comment.