Simon Harris gives state apology to families of Stardust fire victims

Taoiseach Simon Harris has apologised on behalf of the State to the families of the victims who died in the Dublin Stardust fire tragedy.

Forty-eight people were killed when the blaze ripped through the nightclub in 1981.

One of the victims was Ballinlough woman Kathleen Muldoon who was just 19 at the time of her death.

After a more than 40-year campaign for justice, last week an inquest found that the 48 victims had been unlawfully killed.

On Tuesday, Taoiseach Simon Harris said the State failed the families of the Stardust tragedy when “you needed us the most”.

Politicians and others gathered in the Dáil applauded and got to their feet to welcome the Stardust families who gathered in the distinguished visitors’ gallery and public gallery.

“I know there have been many times when you thought this day would never come,” Mr Harris said.

“I know you were forced to endure a living nightmare which began when your loved ones were snatched from you in a devastating fire.

Footage credit: RTE

“Their unfinished stories became your story. The defining story of your lives and the lives of your parents and other family members who left this life before ever seeing justice.

“I am deeply sorry you were made to fight for so long that they went to their graves never knowing the truth.

“Today we say formally and without any equivocation, we are sorry.

“We failed you when you needed us the most, from the very beginning we should have stood with you but instead we forced you to stand against us.”

Taoiseach Simon Harris in Dáil issuing a State apology to the families of the victims of the Stardust fire. Photo: Oireachtas TV/PA

Mr Harris read out the names of each of the 48 victims to the Dáil, along with a few words about their personalities and hobbies and dreams.

He added: “We think as well of the hundreds of people who were injured and who are scarred forever, physically and mentally scarred by fire and scarred by survival.

“We think of the people working in the Stardust, the waiters, the waitresses, the doorman, the DJs.

“We think of the frontline workers who fought to save lives on the night. The fire crews, the ambulance and hospital staff, and the taxi drivers.

“I want to acknowledge those who came forward many years later and told their stories at the inquest.

“I want to acknowledge the Dublin communities, who were good neighbours to the Stardust families and communities right across Ireland, who supported them for 43 years.”

Mr Harris said he hoped the apology and statements in the Dáil help the Stardust families heal.

“I truly hope that the days since last Thursday have marked a turning point and here today in Dáil Éireann we finally begin to put things right,” he said.

“To bring you in from the cold and end the neglect of 43 years waiting and fighting for the only thing you ever wanted, the truth. Nothing else. No other agenda, just the truth.”