Legal aid impasse blow for Stardust families

FAMILIES of Stardust victims are embroiled in ongoing rows over funding for their legal teams ahead of a new inquest into the nightclub fire, the Dáil has heard.

Some 47 families face being excluded from the impending inquest if their legal team does not receive funding from the Legal Aid Board, it has been claimed.

Forty-eight people died and hundreds were injured following the blaze at the Stardust nightclub in Artane, north Dublin, on February 14, 1981.

The Government has set aside €8million in funding for the inquests to cover free legal aid for the families and the setting up of a specially built courtroom in the RDS for the hearings.

It was also confirmed that the legal aid would not be meanstested and would be made available to all of the families.

However, it has now been suggested that there is an issue with the legal teams being paid.

A letter from the Department of Justice to the legal team for 47 of the families in February 2021 said that the ‘processing of fees for legal aid authorised by the Legal Aid Board will be processed monthly in arrears’.

The Irish Daily Mail understands that there was an issue with the legal team receiving their fees when they submitted invoices.

A group representing the families last week accused the Department of Justice of ‘reneging on their commitment to ensure [the] legal team is funded in accordance with the legal aid rates’.

Speaking in the Dáil yesterday, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald called on Taoiseach Micheál Martin to intervene to ensure the legal teams receive payment and an inquest scheduled for October 13 can go ahead.

‘Families have recently learned that the department has not engaged with the Legal Aid Board since the regulation was signed,’ she told the Dáil. ‘Nor has the necessary budget been provided by the department for the legal costs associated with the inquest.

‘It is, of course, deeply unfair on families to have the State continuously put up blockages when its stated position is that it wants to do all it can to support them. Families have had to fight too hard for too long.’

In response, the Taoiseach said he would raise the issue with Justice Minister Heather Humphreys and that the Government is ‘committed’ to ensuring the affected families get the support they need.

However, he added that regulations had been put in place and that he does not ‘see what the issue is’ with the teams being paid. He explained: ‘I am informed that the Legal Aid Board, which is independent in the conduct of its function, is engaging with the legal representatives of the families to agree an appropriate funding structure and schedule.’

Mr Martin later added: ‘The minister has signed the regulations. It is law now.

‘Funding has been provided and is there to be drawn down. I do not see what the issue is but I will pursue the matter with the Minister for Justice.’

A spokesperson for the Legal Aid Board told the Mail that it was unable to comment on this matter at this time.

The Department of Justice was contacted for comment.

‘Funding has been provided’