The Government is to issue a formal response to the request for a new commission of inquiry into the 1981 Stardust fire tragedy within the next six weeks, following a meeting with bereaved families yesterday.
The meeting between Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Minister for Justice Michael McDowell and members of the Stardust Victims Committee focused on the committee's recent submission of evidence and pathologist reports.
Last night, Mr Ahern said in a statement that he and Mr McDowell did not wish to finalise their thinking on the possibility of a new inquiry until they had heard in person from the families and had time to consider all written and verbal submissions.
The recent submission, which aims to disprove the original tribunal findings of "probable arson", is still being examined by the forensic science laboratory, in addition to material from an RTÉ Prime Time programme in February.
Following yesterday's meeting, Greg O'Neill, solicitor for the Stardust families, said he was "cautiously optimistic" that families would receive a positive response in the coming weeks. He described the meeting as forthright, adding that Mr Ahern and Mr McDowell had been "taken aback" by their recent submission.
"We are satisfied that we are making progress . . . we hope the Government will concede that what went before was not sufficient to determine the cause of the fire," said Mr O'Neill.
In the event of the Government rejecting the possibility of a new inquiry, he said, the families would pursue other options. Previously, the committee had indicated that it may lodge an appeal in the European courts under the Convention on Human Rights.
A spokeswoman for the committee, Antoinette Keegan, said that while she was disappointed not to have received a definitive answer from the Government yesterday, she accepted that officials had been overwhelmed by the extent of the new information.
Eugene Kelly, whose brother Robert died in the tragedy which killed 48 people at a St Valentine's night disco, said the Government of the day had failed to ask the questions that families had now raised.
On the subject of undertaking DNA testing on the five unidentified victims buried in a communal plot in Sutton, Mr Ahern reiterated his desire to help families realise this possibility.
"Provided the consent of the next of kin of each victim is furnished, a technical examination will be carried out to determine the feasibility of this exercise. It was agreed that officials will stay in contact with the committee in order to pursue this further."