THE families of the victims of the Stardust tragedy let out tears of relief and cried as they left court after an emotional verdict was given earlier this afternoon.
The families of the 48 young people killed in the Stardust fire in 1981 listened to the foreman of the jury as he read out the verdict of unlawful killing in each of the victims’ cases.
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Families in court today cheered and applauded as the verdict was read out, hearing the relief from outside of the room.
Some Stardust family members jumped to their feet and clapped at the verdict, while some sat in their seats and were moved to tears.
Family members of the 48 victims of the 1981 Stardust fire tragedy had packed into the Pillar Room in Dublin from earlier this morning to hear the outcome of a year-long inquest into the deaths.
Some wore ‘they never came home’ T-shirts and others held framed photos of their loved ones.
The devastating blaze at the Stardust nightclub in Artane, north Dublin, broke out in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 1981.
The jury foreman said it had reached the same verdict into the deaths of each individual, which will be delivered after matters relating to their identification and cause of death are dealt with.
Directed by Ireland’s attorney general, the inquests have been the longest held in Ireland, with proceedings commencing one year ago.
After having a moment to embrace each other and releasing a sigh of relief at the verdict that was delivered, the loved ones of the victims walked from the Rotunda to the Garden of Remembrance.
As they walked, a banner was held showing the faces of those killed that tragic night, with a song written for the victims playing as they made their journey.
The moment was not only emotional for those directly involved, but members of the media reporting on the inquest were also moved to tears.
As the near 150 people gathered at the Garden of Remembrance, they stood at the steps to pose for photographs and let out cheers that the verdict had gone their way.
They thanked the legal representatives as well as Seanad member Lynn Boylan and the late RTÉ journalist Charlie Bird for their involvement in getting the case to this point.
Alongside the family members was Bird’s wife Claire, who was visibly emotional along with the loved ones.
Speaking after the verdict, Antoinette Keegan, who survived the ordeal but tragically lost her two sisters in the fire shared her thanks.
She said: “I just want to thank everyone, I want to thank Phoenix Law, our legal team, the barristers.
“An overwhelming day today, this day is for the 48. I also want to remember my mother. Justice for the 48.”
The fact that these inquests have been held at all is in no small part due to the persistence and commitment of families over the years.”
Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane
Also speaking after the verdict was Lisa Lawlor, who sadly lost both of her parents to the fire when she was aged just one.
She said: “I lost both of my parents in the Stardust tragedy, it’s been a battle to say the least for the last 43 years.
“I was only one, I was in nappies, the last time I saw both of my parents when they went to the Stardust and they didn’t come home.
“I thank the legal team, the coroner, the media, everyone who has brought us through this for the last year, for the last 43 years. Thank you very much.”
Another to speak was Patricia Dunne who remembered her brother Brian Hobbs in the fire.
She said: “Brian is the youngest, he was our baby and I was the second eldest so I was like his mammy.
“I’m the last left of seven so at 77, I’m glad I’m here today to see justice for Brian Hobbs.
“When we met our teams and everyone in 2019, since then we’ve been like a family. Besides the families being like family, the barristers have been like family.
“They’ve had our backs, we’ve had their backs.
“Brian was number 29 for years, it was disgraceful. He’s now Brian Hobbs which is very important to me. He will forever be Brian Hobbs, the baby of our family.”
After the verdicts were delivered, family members hugged their legal representatives.
Others wiped away tears. One member of the jury became visibly emotional.
DECADES OF HELL – STARDUST TRAGEDY TIMELINE
FEBRUARY 14, 1981: A blaze rips through the Stardust nightclub, in Artane, north Dublin, killing 48 young people and injuring more than 200 others. It remains the worst fire disaster in the history of the State.
NOVEMBER 1981: A tribunal of inquiry into the tragedy, chaired by Mr Justice Ronan Keane, finds the blaze was “probably” caused by arson. The families reject the finding and start a decades-long campaign for a new inquiry.
MARCH 1982: Original inquests found that all 48 died from a combination of smoke inhalation and cyanide poisoning.
SEPTEMBER 1985: The government establishes a Compensation Tribunal to give ex-gratia payments to victims’ families and survivors. 823 people received just under £10.5million. The lives of the dead were valued at £7,500 each.
MARCH 2006: Campaigners march on Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s office demanding new evidence be considered in a public inquiry.
APRIL 2007: The bodies of five victims — Richard Bennett, Michael French, Murtagh Kavanagh, Éamon Loughman and Paul Wade — are finally identified using DNA techniques.
JULY 2008: The Government appoints Paul Coffey SC to conduct an independent examination of the case for a reopened inquiry.
JANUARY 2009: The report rules out a new inquiry — but dismisses the probable arson verdict. Families declare a “victory for the dead”.
2013: Gardai open a criminal investigation into alleged perjury over evidence given by several witnesses at the 1981 tribunal.
FEBRUARY 2014: Two representatives of the Stardust families end a 24-hour occupation of Government Buildings after demanding to see then-Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
JANUARY 2016: The Director of Public Prosecutions says it will not mount a prosecution into alleged perjury by several witnesses at the 1981 tribunal.
FEBRUARY 2016: Families hold a protest at Dublin Coroner’s Court calling for the inquest into the 48 deaths to be reopened, saying they were given a cause of death but no verdict.
MARCH 2017: The Cabinet appoints retired judge Mr Justice Patrick McCartan to conduct a probe into the circumstances surrounding the tragedy and to rule whether a commission of investigation into the fire is warranted.
NOVEMBER 2017: Families reject the McCartan report’s recommendation that there should be no new inquiry, describing the tone of the report as “rude, aggressive and irrational” and they continue to demand a new inquest.
NOVEMBER 2018: Families say they have found new evidence and will petition the Attorney General for a new inquest. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar tells the Dail the AG will give full consideration to their request.
FEBRUARY 14, 2019: On the 38th anniversary of the tragedy, a new plaque is unveiled at the site of the former Stardust nightclub, with the inscription “They Never Came Home”, and listing the names of the 48 dead.
SEPTEMBER 25, 2019: Attorney General Seamus Woulfe contacts families of the victims to say an inquest will be held because of an “insufficiency of inquiry” in original inquests.
APRIL 25, 2023: After delays caused by Covid and a judicial review taken by the club owner Eamon Butterly in the High Court, the new inquest finally begins in the Pillar Room at the Rotunda Hospital, in Dublin.
APRIL 18, 2024: Verdicts are announced after the longest inquest in the history of the State.
The coroner thanked the jury for their service, stating that “the passing of years hasn’t diminished the horror of some of the evidence that you have heard”.
At that point, families of the victims stood up in unison and applauded the jury members at length, with one person shouting “thank you”.
Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane paid tribute to the “persistence and commitment” of the families who had campaigned for fresh inquests.
She said: “To the families I acknowledge the deaths of these 48 young people is a source of ongoing grief to those who loved them and it remains the defining loss of their lives.
“However, I hope that family members will have taken some solace from the fact that these fresh inquests were held, that the facts surrounding the deaths were examined in detail, that moving testimony was heard from many of those involved in the events of the night and, most importantly, that you the families felt fully involved in proceedings, however difficult it was to hear all of the evidence.
“The fact that these inquests have been held at all is in no small part due to the persistence and commitment of families over the years.
“And, finally, we remember those 48 young people who lost their lives on that fateful night.
“It is their lives that we’ve sought to vindicate by way of these inquests.”
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