Families seek new Stardust inquiry

Families of the Stardust victims have called for "a new public inquiry" into the fire tragedy which led to the deaths of 48 young people in the Artane area of Dublin on February 14th, 1981.

Speaking at a press conference in Dublin last night, Antoinette Keegan, a survivor of the fire, said on behalf of the families that such an inquiry "should be established as soon as possible". She also said that from today the families intend to picket the Dáil every working day until a new inquiry is announced.

"Having regard not only to the strength of the new evidence but most importantly of all to the entitlement of the families to an effective and transparent investigation, a new public inquiry must be established as soon as possible. The families cannot have any closure until the truth as to the cause and circumstances of the Stardust fire are publicly established. For 25 years they have been seeking the truth and will accept nothing but the truth as to how and why their loved ones perished," Ms Keegan read from a statement.

She said that the original 1981 Stardust tribunal of inquiry "reached conclusions in ignorance of crucial evidence". It had been "deprived of vital information essential to the proper discharge of its terms of reference. Its efforts to determine the cause and rapid development of the fire were rendered fundamentally ineffective."

She said it was open to the Dáil to establish a new tribunal of inquiry "with discreet and focused terms of reference" and that it [ the Dáil] had in recent years "enacted legislation to provide for the reopening of inquiries in the area of public safety when new evidence came to light".

Gertrude Barrett explained how she spent four days in the city morgue before her son Michael was identified, the last victim whose identity was established. It was "horrendous" what had been done to the families down the years and "what it did to us all", she said. It was "time they eventually told the truth", she said.

Patricia Kennedy spoke of "the corruption back then" in 1981 and speculated that the reason the Government had not agreed to a public inquiry was because it would "open a can of worms".

Bríd McDermott spoke of losing her three children, William, Marsella and George, to the fire and of "what that tragedy has done to my family".

It "broke up my marriage. My husband was a fireman and the fact that he was not there to save his children broke his heart. We want closure to this. I do and all the families do. We have suffered enough," she said.

Geraldine Foyle, a researcher working for the families, told the press conference that the crime scene maps used by the Stardust tribunal were wrong. "It is time for Bertie, the Forensic Science Laboratory, the gardaí to come clean and state exactly where it is documented they have considered this [ new] evidence, or set up a new inquiry."

Independent TD Finian McGrath, who attended the press conference, promised the families his full support.