STARDUST FAMILIES’ 43-YEAR WAIT FOR TRUTH IS AT AN END
»»Jury returns verdict today on 48 deaths at club »»122 days of fresh inquests into 1981 inferno
THE families of 48 young people who died in the Stardust disaster will finally hear the verdict of their inquests today.
The jury into the 1981 catastrophe – the worst fire in the history of the State – announced yesterday it had reached a verdict on their deaths.
Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard they will deliver their decision at 2pm, at the court sitting in the Pillar Room of the Rotunda Hospital.
It will mark the end of a 43-year wait for those looking for answers since the devastating blaze in the nightclub in Dublin’s Artane on Valentine’s Day in 1981.
Families of those who died – all aged between 16 and 27 – have sat through 122 days of the fresh inquests that came about after a long campaign for justice.
They include prominent campaigner and survivor Antoinette Keegan, whose sisters Mary, 19, and Martina, 16, died in the blaze; and Stardust orphan Lisa Lawlor, was only a year old when she lost both parents Maureen and Francis Lawlor.
EVIDENCE
More than 370 witnesses were called to give evidence, including survivors, emergency crews and nightclub workers, in the most extensive inquest ever held in the country.
Key evidence included how emergency exits were routinely locked and obstructed.
It also heard how 2,000 carpet tiles on the wall were central to its rapid spread.
However, club manager Eamon Butterly – whose family’s business owned the Stardust – told the court he had believed the venue was “one of the safest around”.
The jury wrapped up deliberations yesterday afternoon, after 11 days.
The foreman had earlier told coroner Myra Cullinane that the panel of seven men and five women could not reach a unanimous verdict.
Dr Cullinane then said she would accept a majority verdict, which requires a majority of seven jury members agreed, in inquests.
The jury continued deliberations for a further 15 minutes and on their return, Dr Cullinane asked: “Have you been able to meet majority verdicts arising out of the findings?”
The foreman answered: “Yes.” The coroner said she would defer the announcement of the verdicts to allow family members to attend court.
She added: “Because this is not a trial and these are inquests, I wish to defer the announcement of the verdicts to allow extended family to make arrangements to attend court or to observe proceedings online.
“I would like you to assemble at 11am tomorrow in the jury room and formalities will commence at 2pm in the afternoon.”
She instructed: “You must not on any account discuss your deliberations or your findings or verdict before you return or you will undermine the entire process, and it could amount to a contempt of court.”
The fresh inquests, which started in May 2023, came about after a decades’ long campaign by those left behind from the disaster.
Grieving families formed the campaign group Justice For The Stardust 48, in the name of those who went out to a dance and “never came home”.
They are hoping the verdict today will finally bring a sense of closure to the awful events.
While 48 people died, another 200 were injured in a night of chaos, panic and horror that left a scar on the nation. Inquests were originally held a year after the fire, but were finished in five days, with each victim’s case lasting just 15 minutes and only a medical cause given, with no reference to circumstance.
These original inquests were deemed by the families to be perfunctory. A tribunal found the cause was “probably arson” which was contested by the families.
The arson finding allowed Butterly to claim IR£580,000 in compensation for malicious damage. A 2009 examination into the tribunal found no evidence to support the finding the fire was started deliberately.
In 2019, then Attorney General Seamus Woulfe directed new inquests should take place as the original ones failed to sufficiently investigate the circumstances.
He described Stardust as “the greatest such disaster to have occurred in the history of the State”.
I wish to defer the verdicts to allow family to attend
DR MYRA CULLINANE DUBLIN CORONER’S COURT