Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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We now proceed to statements of acknowledgement and apology to the families and to the victims of the Stardust tragedy. Before calling on the Taoiseach, on behalf of all of us, I acknowledge the presence here today of the families of the 48 victims of the Stardust fire. They are seated in the Public Gallery and the Distinguished Visitors Gallery. Today's proceedings mark, put at its mildest, an important milestone in their campaign on behalf of their loved ones. I just want to say céad míle fáilte romhaibh go léir.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I join with you by welcoming to the House the Stardust families who are gathered here with us in the Chamber and in the Public Gallery.

I know there have been many times when you thought this day would never come, over far too many years. I know that you were forced to endure a living nightmare which began when your loved ones were so cruelly snatched from you in a devastating fire. 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 that 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. Forty-eight young people lost their lives in the Stardust disaster, many more were injured, and even more still had their lives broken and shattered forever. When I met with you in Government Buildings last Saturday, you reminded me of another time when four of your family members waited for days in the cold security hut, protesting your exclusion and hoping for access.

I truly hope that the days since last Thursday have marked a turning point and that today, in Dáil Éireann, we finally begin to put things right, 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. I hope this is a moment when the State, which rubbed salt in your terrible wounds, starts to help you to heal.

You asked me to try to really understand your experience, to really feel your pain and to immerse myself in your world as you set out, in your eloquent pen portraits, to the inquest. There I found not only terrible anguish and unimaginable heartbreak but also love, joy, laughter, personalities, promise, potential, slagging, messing, pride, dignity, talent, innocence and the deep abyss of loss and loneliness.

On 13 February 1981, 48 daughters and sons, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, cousins and in-laws, uncles and aunts, neighbours, friends and co-workers went out to the Stardust on the night of the dancing competition and never came home. For their families, in the nightmare that was to follow, their loved ones not only lost their lives, they lost their identities. They were much, much more than numbers. They were bright, beautiful people. They had plans, they had dreams, they had their whole lives ahead of them. Today, as their families did in their pen portraits to the Stardust inquest, we remember each of them.

Michael Barrett, who was working that night as an assistant DJ. He was wise beyond his years. He had an infectious laugh. He was 17 years old.

Richard Bennett, who loved the horses and took on the role of breadwinner for his family, was described as an angel in disguise. He was 17.

Carol Bissett, a singer in the choir, a girl guide, quiet in her ways, much loved by all. She was 18.

Jimmy Buckley was the life of every party. He loved hurling and won a competition for his Elvis impression. Father figure, brother, hero. He was 23.

Paula Byrne, always the peacemaker. She loved to draw and was the epitome of kindness. She was 19.

Caroline Carey was a talented Irish dancer who took up disco dancing. She was a Dublin City Council clerical officer who had recently found out she was going to be a mother. Her family asked me to tell this House today that this baby was the 49th victim of the Stardust tragedy. Caroline was 17.

John "Johnny" Colgan was always upbeat. He lit up every room and performed the Hucklebuck as his party piece. He was going to be an uncle. He was 21.

Jacqueline Croker had a heart of gold. She brought music into her family’s lives on her red record player and used her wages to dress and treat her brothers and sisters. She was 18.

Liam Dunne was training to be a butcher, which he loved. He had a passion for music. He was a loving boy with many friends. He was 18.

Michael Farrell was his family’s bundle of joy. He worked in Cadbury's and was a dapper young man who always tried to look his best. He was a deep thinker and a diarist. He was 26.

Michael "Horsey" Ffrench was an auto-electrician and the rock of his family. He was a role model who worked hard to share his wages and thought of everyone else before himself. He was 18.

David Flood was a rocker at heart who loved the guitar and who was known for his "Jagger swagger". He never missed a day of work and he had all of life’s possibilities ahead of him. He was 18.

Thelma Frazer, gentle and kind, loved Friday nights and disco moves. She is remembered by her brothers and sisters for her treats, her hugs and her kisses. She was 20.

Josephine Glen, quiet and gentle, was always smiling and happy. A second mam to her brothers and sisters, she left school to help support her family. She was 16.

Michael Griffiths was happy and outgoing, with a great work ethic and a generous nature. He loved family occasions and Christmas and could always be heard laughing, singing or playing music. He was 18.

Robert “Bobby” Hillick, was outgoing and hardworking. He loved football and boxing and was very close to his late brother, Bill. He was 20.

Brian Hobbs, whose sister was known as his “Mammy Pat”, was academically inclined and excelled at catering college, winning a gold medal for Ireland in competition. He was ambitious and was going places. He was 21.

Eugene "Hughie" Hogan was a skilled carpenter and a sharp dresser with a beautiful voice that could hit the high notes. He was a loving, caring father. He was 24.

Murtagh "Murty" Kavanagh was caring, kind and good-natured. He was a heating insulator who looked after his father. He loved the Dubs and Manchester United. He was 27.

Martina Keegan was not just a daughter and sister but a best friend and confidante. She dreamed of being a model and was studious and hardworking. She was 16.

Mary Keegan, beautiful inside and out, shy at heart but very fun-loving and sociable, was a teacher to her younger siblings. She excelled at school and work. She was 19.

Robert Kelly, nicknamed “Spiky” for his hairstyle, worked on the B and I boats and loved it. He was a lover of music and embroidery. He was 17.

Marie Kennedy, warm and caring, lively and fiercely protective, was dancing as soon as she could walk. Her personality and style were as bright as her smile. She was 17.

Mary Kenny, popular, kind and funny, was passionate about fashion and dancing and was a fan of Leeds United. She had just turned 19.

Margaret Kiernan, a friend to all, loved sport and socialising. She loved to sing "Roxanne" and dreamed of a happy future in a house next door to her best friend, Deirdre. She was 18.

Sandra Lawless was happy, kind, funny and selfless. She was a girl guide leader and swimmer who had won awards for lifesaving. She loved hiking and camping in the Dublin Mountains. She was 18.

Francis Lawlor, an Army man with a love of style, had great leadership skills and never liked to leave his beautiful baby, Lisa. He was 25.

Maureen Lawlor, a loving and devoted mother to Lisa, was full of dreams for the future. She shared an interest in fashion with her husband, Francis. She was always immaculately dressed. She was 26.

Paula Lewis was her mother’s right-hand woman and her father's pride and joy. She was a second mother to her siblings and her little sister’s roommate. She was 19.

Eamonn Loughman was a protector of his brothers and sisters, who remember the crossbars on his racer. He was a car enthusiast and music lover with a deep laugh. He was 18.

Donna Mahon was a lovely person who loved her job working in a newsagent's, meeting people and being part of the community. She had plans to go to Santa Ponsa for her 18th birthday. She was 17.

Helena Mangan was kind, caring, loving, brave and strong. Her daughter, Samantha, was the centre of her life. She loved to dance. She was 22.

George McDermott, a gentle music lover with a cheeky grin, he loved a bop and playing cards with his pals. He was 18.

Marcella McDermott, happy, singing and dancing, with the most gentle and kind nature, especially with children. She was 16.

William McDermott, "Willie", a gentle giant, with a beautiful smile, soft-voiced, witty, caring and kind, he loved the weekend, the Dubliners and being on Hill 16. He was 22.

Julie McDonnell, caring, helpful, thoughtful, a hard worker and provider, she loved football, she coached a local team, she was mad for Elvis. She was 20.

Teresa McDonnell, the focal point of her family, she was brave, she stood up for what she believed in and she loved all animals. She was 16.

Gerard McGrath, independent and full of energy, talented with his hands, a dapper music lover, he had a passion for the natural world and a love of birds. He was 21.

Caroline McHugh, an avid reader, Irish dancer, swimmer, a member of the local CB radio club who did well in school and work. She was 17.

James Millar, a sailor who had travelled the world, so happy to be engaged to be married and ready to settle down and raise his family. He was 20.

Susan Morgan, a tomboy who loved football, walks and Dublin, she was bubbly, she was funny, she was full of life. She was 19.

David Morton, football mad and nicknamed "Chesty" for preferring to receive the ball there than have it mess up his hair, he was mischievous, he was charismatic, he was independent and he had big dreams for the future. He was 19.

Kathleen Muldoon, good natured, thoughtful, she wanted to be a nurse who cared for all those around her. She was 19.

George O'Connor, a gentle homebody with a creative spirit, he loved science fiction, he was attending his very first dance. He was 17.

Brendan O'Meara, a talented Irish dancer and sportsman, he would help anyone out in any way he could and never had a hair out of place. He was 23.

John Stout, sensitive, gentle, also an Elvis fan, he liked snooker, he planned to become a painter and decorator to contribute to the family household that he loved. He was 18.

Margaret Thornton, a lover of fashion and music, skilled in dressmaking and tailoring, she loved the pictures, concerts and especially discos. She was 19.

Paul Wade, a people person, good at chatting, who made friends easily, someone you simply could not stay mad at. He was 17.

Today, we think as well of the hundreds of people who were injured and 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 doormen, the DJs. We think of the front-line workers who fought to save lives on the night: the fire crews, the ambulance and hospital staff, the gardaí, the Army, 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 the communities right across Ireland who supported them for 43 years.

It is 43 years since the momentous, devastating loss that was experienced in those early hours of St. Valentine’s Day 1981, with families, who had last seen their loved ones getting dressed up in their best, freshly pressed outfits, getting ready to meet friends, going out for a dance, suddenly hearing of a fire in the Stardust, or the sound of sirens, or the knock on the door, and then the escalating panic as the realisation dawned that a disaster was unfolding, to the desperation of searching, hoping, praying that your family member or friend had left, had escaped, somehow was not there when the fire started and spread, to the frantic rounds of the Stardust car park, the hospitals and the morgue, to the dismay of confirming the identity of lost loved ones by recognising melted jewellery, or an engagement ring, or a wedding ring, clothing or a digital watch, with a loved one’s name replaced by a number or that dreaded label "unidentified" or waiting many years for confirmation of identity long after the agonising pain of loss.

The dreadful aftermath, the body bags, the numbers, the rushed funerals, the closed coffins, the shattering of families, every subsequent event marred and scarred, tainted and tarnished, the surviving children's rearing years were done through a sea of tears, with mothers afraid to hug and afraid to love in fear of losing another child - broken hearts, broken lives, broken marriages.

Being accused of telling lies, the smear of arson attached to their loved ones. Having their grief and sadness misconstrued as madness, a sense of threat and suppression when they simply started looking for answers, stigma heaped upon sorrow, bred shame and silence. The intergenerational and communal ripple effect of so much agony and the lack of closure.

The families gathered here today and their loved ones who perished, the family members who are no longer with us and all those who suffered horrific injuries were the victims of a mass tragedy. In such shattering circumstances, the most basic expectation must surely be that the State comes to the aid of its citizens and supports them in the terrible aftermath. Instead, it is to our great and eternal shame that, far from the warm embrace of a caring State, the Stardust families experienced a cold shoulder, a deaf ear and two generations of struggle for truth and justice. It is to our great shame that State processes heaped misery upon tragedy for the Stardust families.

I am so deeply sorry that your first bid for justice ended with suspicion being cast on those who had died or survived on that catastrophic night. With your pain and grief compounded by stigma and rejection, families were forced to fight for decades to obtain the vindication you won last Thursday when the inquest returned a verdict of unlawful killing in the case of your 48 family members.

For all of this, as Taoiseach, on behalf of this State, I apologise unreservedly to all the families of the Stardust victims and all the survivors for the hurt that was done to them and for the profoundly painful years of struggle for the truth. I apologise to the families that those present on the night of the fire were wrongly criminalised through the allegation of arson, which was an attack on their reputations. I say today clearly in Dáil Éireann, every person there was innocent. I say today, the truth is now known. I say today, not only were they innocent, they were unlawfully killed.

The Government accepts the findings of the coroner's court and the recommendations of the jury. This was formally noted at the Cabinet meeting this morning, and the Minister for Justice and other relevant Ministers have been asked to report back on the implementation of the recommendations. I have asked my own Department to prepare proposals to appropriately commemorate the disaster, as requested by the families, and I look forward to engaging and agreeing a way forward with families on this.

Last Saturday, when I met with the families here in Government Buildings, I listened to the pain, the grief and the righteous anger. It is beyond comprehension how, in the midst of horrific suffering, you found the endurance and fortitude to form the Stardust Victims Committee and start your long, long fight, but that moment has led to this one, this moment where we say your loved ones are no longer lost in the smoke and the dark and the fire but are brought back into the light, where we fulfil the promise of the Proclamation of the Republic and say without question, they are our cherished children.

I want to pay tribute to three of the women who sat in that cold hut outside Government Buildings 15 years ago who are here with us today - Gertrude Barrett, Antoinette Keegan and Bridget McDermott. Their incredible spirit in refusing to be kept out in the cold helped lead us to this moment today. However, very sadly, a fourth woman who was there, Christine Keegan, and her late husband, John, did not live to see this day.

I want to turn to the words of Christine and the question she asked which was never answered in her lifetime.

Christine said in a statement she prepared for the inquest but never got to deliver:

The Stardust Fire took all our happy family days away from us, it took away all our belief in faith and it took away our trust with successive governments over the years. We felt abandoned and all alone and left like lambs to a slaughter, everything brushed under the carpet, to keep the trust hidden.

I would like to ask a question to the Government, the establishment, and its agencies. What did we families of the deceased victims of the Stardust fire ever do on the government, to deserve this ill treatment and constant systematic abuse we have sustained for the past 38 years?

Today I want to answer that question - you did nothing wrong. The institutions of this State failed you. The institutions of this State let you down. These brave families should never have had to walk alone. We should have been by your side. We should have walked with you. We were not, we did not and for that we are truly sorry. We should have offered counselling. We should have provided answers. We should have ensured the truth came out. As Christy Moore recognised in his powerful song about the tragedy, "The victims ... waited in vain". Except it was not for four years, it was for 43.

Today we honour the 48 children who never came home. Today we apologise to the families, to the survivors, to those were denied the truth for too long. I want to thank the inquest jury for delivering a just verdict last Thursday. I want to thank the senior coroner, Dr. Myra Cullinane, for her sensitive and meticulous conduct of the inquest. The terrible reality is we will never know for certain how many lives were ended by this tragedy. Beyond the 48 whose names we know, there are countless others whose lives were turned to ash on that terrible night. Their hopes and dreams were destroyed twice over - first by the fire, and then by successive failures of this State to do what was right. And for that I am truly sorry.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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This is an incredibly important day for the families who lost loved ones in the Stardust fire, but I am conscious that any sense of relief today's apology may bring is tempered by the fact they had to wait for far too long to hear it. Most of us in this Chamber know what it is like to lose a family member, but few of us will have experienced the devastation of losing a loved one in such terrible circumstances. The fact this pain was compounded by the State's unwillingness to correct the glaring flaws of those original investigations for so long is impossible to justify by anyone here today. The organs of the Irish State did not respond when repeatedly confronted by contradictory evidence. It is a sobering indictment of our integrity as a nation and one we must reflect upon, uncomfortable though it may be for many of us in the most powerful positions.

I have spent some time since the verdict was announced last week going back over the pen portraits of the victims that had been read out by their families during the inquest's opening weeks. Reading about so many young lives cut short just as they were entering their prime is incredibly poignant. No one who died in that fire was over the age of 27. In fact, the vast majority were in their late teens or early 20s. I was 17 when that fire took place and I remember the shock that spread over Dublin, the pall, the gloom that Sunday and then on Monday morning going to school trying to make sense of what had happened. The fondness and affection with which the families talk about those they lost is both touching and heartbreaking: young people finding love or seeking adventure, boyfriends and girlfriends with dreams of settling down and raising families of their own, fans of football and fashion, some might have loved the Rolling Stones, others Dolly Parton and Diana Ross, young people generously sharing their pay with their parents to help their families through tough times.

The portrait Thelma Frazer's family gave the inquest would stay with you, and I hope and trust they will not mind me sharing some of it as an example now as I think it illustrates the incredible sense of loss all the families have experienced. Barbara Frazer was just six years old when she watched her big sister do her hair and makeup and pick up her clothes ahead of the Valentine's disco. Growing up in a house full of boys in Ringsend, the two sisters shared a bed in the family's box room despite the 14-year age difference between them.

That night, Thelma had hugged her little sister Barbara, given her a kiss and tucked her into bed before heading to Artane. The next morning, Barbara's father woke her frantically, shouting to ask her if she knew where Thelma was. Barbara told the inquest "That was the night that stole my sister, that was the night that stole my happy family, that was the night that stole my childhood". The big sister who Barbara had idolised was not there when she made her first holy communion a year later nor for any of the other life events that form such important markers in a young person's life. She has said "In my teens for advice, my big sister should have been there", "In my preparations for my wedding, my sister should have been there" and "When I had my daughter, my sister should have been there". Thelma's brother Maurice recalled how the house went from being a happy home full of life and laughter to just a house. I urge everyone to read the portraits themselves if they have not already done so.

Many of the families knew deep down that the official account of how their children had died was not right. The original tribunal certainly gave the impression of thoroughness, sitting for 122 days and hearing from more than 350 witnesses, but the conclusions it reached were clearly flawed. Despite unearthing no evidence to indicate that the fire was started deliberately, it nevertheless concluded that the most probable explanation was that it was the result of arson. We have witnessed this blaming of victims before. I am not the first to note the awful similarity to the Hillsborough Stadium disaster, where another devastated community was left to battle the authorities for decades in order to get justice. Just as with the Hillsborough campaign, the Stardust families were forced to call on every possible reserve of resilience and determination to force an uninterested state to listen. Just as with Hillsborough, the families eventually succeeded in getting an order for a new inquest to be held, with the Attorney General accepting their argument that the original inquest had been too narrowly focused on the medical cause of their loved ones' deaths and not focused enough on the wider circumstances behind them. Last week, the families got their answer - the answer they had known for decades but had been continually denied by the State - which is that their loved ones had been unlawfully killed. The families have every right to be angry at the State for having denied them that truth for so long.

What further compounds the sense of tragedy is that it was so avoidable if only proper fire and health and safety rules had been followed. We might be tempted to look back at the early eighties as an almost backward time compared with now but rules and responsibilities in respect of fire safety were well established. The Stardust nightclub was also known not be following them. A Dublin Corporation planning official had identified that the wrong type of tile was being used on the nightclub's walls but had felt that it was up to the fire brigade to object rather than up to him. Numerous complaints had been made by a corporation inspector about the venue's exits being blocked and yet it continued to operate. Just two weeks before the fire, the corporation had complained to Patrick Butterly that exits had been blocked during a packed concert at the venue. Assurances were given but not honoured.

It is right that the Taoiseach has offered you, the relatives, a full State apology today. It is one you have waited far too long for. As W.B. Yeats famously wrote:

Too long a sacrifice

Can make a stone of the heart.

However, the pen portraits that were so lovingly composed show that is not the case for you. Your sacrifice has undoubtedly been too long but the love and affection you continue to hold in your hearts for the sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles you have lost is undeniable.

I will conclude by quoting from another of the pen portraits, that of Michael Ffrench, as recounted by his sister Caroline. She recalled how Michael would take his young siblings to St. Anne's Park on the crossbar of the yellow racer he had made himself and how he would dance around the kitchen with his mother when she needed cheering up. She said that his dream was to make life a little easier for his mother. She recalled:

Michael was a legend. He was our big brother and our rock.

These young lives were cut short but their cherished memories remain. You, their loved ones, have kept those memories alive. You are an example of all that is good in our country. Thank you.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I join in the welcome to the families here today. I join with the Taoiseach, the Government and all of us who are privileged enough to sit in the House in issuing a full and unreserved State apology. It is right and fitting for this Chamber to offer, however late in the day, whatever solace we can.

Like so many others, I remember that day. I was only six years old at the time but had three teenage sisters. In north Dublin, the Stardust was one of the main places to go. I can still remember not fully understanding at the time what happened, or the scale of it, but knowing that my parents were extremely quiet, as was my community. Their worst nightmare had been visited upon 48 other families.

In responding to the Stardust tragedy, our State did not live up to the principles of justice, to its core values, or to the decency we owe every person. The victims, and their families, friends and community, were let down. This failure is a matter of deep and lasting regret and shame for our State and all of us who represent it. The State response was utterly lacking in compassion and understanding. Even worse, it compounded the trauma with grievous mistakes, including the baseless findings of probable arson that cast scurrilous aspersions of guilt on an entire community; the paucity and complexity of the State compensation; the sheer amount of time it has taken us to get to today's apology; and a process wrung out through the gimlet eyes of a system blind to suffering. We owed all of you so much more.

The depth of this tragedy is still so hard to fathom: red flame and black smoke engulfing a heaving club, knocks on parents' doors in the dead of night, desperate phone calls, and the red-eyed visits to the city morgue at Store Street. It was a moment of despair that stretches across decades and across the generations. A nation was cast in gloom with shock. Whole communities were silenced and quietened for years.

In the face of such horror, there were also stories of courage and compassion. Dublin Fire Brigade personnel made their way through a thicket of darkness and smoke and ran into danger against every instinct except bravery. Gardaí arrived at a scene of chaos and helped where they could, ultimately carrying the victims and survivors out of the ashes to worried and grieving families. Medical staff fought desperately to save as many as they could, with the trace of smoke heavy in the wards. Taxi drivers, neighbours and the community helped the survivors. Religious communities put the victims to rest in the days and weeks afterwards, offering what comfort they could across multiple funerals a day. The bravery, compassion and commitment of those men and women speaks to the best of us during the worst of our moments.

For many, that night has never left them. They grappled with the bleak memories bereft of support other than the support of each other. The searing scale of the tragedy has not dimmed over time. The sundering of families, the unfinished lives, the incomplete stories, and the paths closed forever can never be healed. The grief cut deep and it endures still. Its sharpness is felt and carried every single day.

The families and friends gathered in the Gallery and watching are a living tribute to those who passed. We can only imagine the toll you have paid to keep their memories alive and to pursue justice over the decades without the support of this State. Added to that weight are the family members who have passed in the years since, under a dark pall of injustice and grief. The matter was never settled for them. Questions were left open. The survivors have taken on their burden as well.

We all risk being overwhelmed by the worst events in our lives and buried by the sheer scale of a tragedy. It is a testament to the courage and conviction of all the families that they refused to be. Time and time again they refused to be knocked down by indifference and took up their cause anew.

Your dignity and grace is humbling. I hope this moment offers some small measure of solace and vindication, a long-awaited measure of justice for you and your families, friends and community.

Today is not the end. There is a pressing moral demand for further steps now. The inquest's recommendations on building standards and inspections need to be implemented and they will be. They will be implemented in full and in full consultation with the families because this can never be allowed to happen again. A fitting memorial and engagement with the families, survivors, local schools and communities will be needed to ensure that night is always remembered by generations to come. I want to commit to working with families directly to address what next steps need to be taken. Justice demands not just words but deeds. Your voice has to be the beating heart of that process.

Today is a moment for the families whose lives have been changed and shattered forever, for the tightly knit, hard-working communities of north Dublin where the streets went silent, for those touched by the terrible events who were never the same again when they escaped the smoke and the flames and for those who never got out into the cold air of the early hours of 14 February 1981. Their names are in the record for time immemorial.

Let us all remember them: a St. Valentine's weekend brimful of excitement and possibility; competition night in the Stardust; pleading with parents for permission to go out; Blondie blasting on the radio as they jostle with brothers and sisters; lipstick applied carefully and a new blade for every sharp shave; black boot polish out and dancing shoes at the ready; freshly pressed shirts and bright dresses; the usual row over borrowed clothes; the tie grabbed from the dad's wardrobe for the boys to get past the bouncers; a few bob scraped together from the week folded into the wallet; a last glance in the mirror and leaping down the stairs with a fleeting goodbye as the cold night opens to them; the whiff of perfume and aftershave caught in the air when the door shuts behind them. In the full bloom of youth, their futures stretched ahead to a bright horizon. They never came home but they are vindicated now. Their families are vindicated. We failed them and we are truly sorry.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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As the Taoiseach and the two Ministers have said, this has been a tragedy of harrowing proportions for the families. It was a Valentine's night that turned to anguish. You can only imagine the panic of people experiencing the chains and padlocks blocking their exits, the lights failing and the darkness as that tragedy ensued. The initial determination of arson was seen as a further slap in the face to the families and victims. The burning sense of injustice has fired these families throughout a very long struggle and we who have represented them in the constituency have failed them; I acknowledge that fully. Often it seemed that the chains and padlocks were being again put in place as they sought to find justice from a system that always seemed to have the doors closed. Your anger and frustration with politicians and the system is amply justified. Even though the record of arson was overturned, you did not know the truth. It is with great sorrow that we realise at long last that we have to acknowledge the failings that have brought us to this day. I acknowledge the fortitude and determination of the families, which is an example to us all. I join wholeheartedly in the apology issued by the Taoiseach and the two Ministers.

Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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This is a very historic day but also a very emotional one for the families of the victims and for the survivors of the Stardust tragedy. The fire in the Stardust nightclub in Artane in February 1981 was truly horrific. Forty-eight young lives were lost and more than 200 people were injured.

Since that night, the families have campaigned tirelessly to establish exactly what happened, determine the cause of the fire and get justice and the truth for their loved ones.

As a teenager, I once attended the Stardust for a ballad session. Following my election to Dublin City Council in 1985 to represent Artane, I was happy to work with the Stardust Victims Committee and, in particular, with the late Christine Keegan, who was a wonderful woman. They actively pursued a number of issues including various planning applications in respect of the Butterly Business Park and the provision of a Stardust Memorial Park in Bonnybrook. The history of the 43-year-long campaign to get justice and the truth is well documented but I would like to focus a little on the 1982 Keane tribunal report. While it did some good work in making recommendations to ensure that such a fire never happened again, a key demand of the Stardust Victims Committee, its finding that the cause of the fire was probably arson was incredibly insensitive and was very wrong.

The Ireland of the early 1980s was a very different place. We had a hierarchical society. The Kerry babies' tribunal is also evidence of this. Even by the standards of that time, however, the finding was appalling. For my own part, I genuinely believe that I consistently followed up any of issues the committee asked me to pursue. I raised various matters in the Dáil. I wrote to the relevant Ministers as requested. If I am honest, this was not enough. I also admit that my relations with the committee were at times at fraught. I do regret that. I admit too that when Pat McCartan issued his finding in 2017 to the effect that no new inquiry was warranted, I could not see how the case could be advanced further. The decision to seek a new inquest was an inspired one. I am in awe of the persistence of the families at that dark time to continue the fight. They did so with determination and great dignity.

We can go into all these matters at another time. Today, the families have got the long overdue State apology. That the State failed them is clearly evident, and they have every right to be angry about what happened. In due course, attention can be paid to other issues that now need to be attended to. Planning for a suitable State commemoration for all those who died should now be commenced in consultation with the families. Today we remember in a very special way the 48 victims of the Stardust fire. I hope that the State apology from the Taoiseach, which we have just heard, will bring some closure for the families and restore the identity and dignity of all those who perished in the terrible fire on St. Valentine's Day in 1981.

Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I, too, welcome the State apology. It is necessary and very long overdue. As other Members have done, I welcome all the families here today. I hope last week's verdict of unlawful killing gives some degree of comfort and vindication to the families for the terrible loss they have suffered. I hope the inquest has provided some solace about what happened on the night when the families endured - and continue to endure - enormous suffering. This suffering was compounded by the State's treatment of the victims and their families over the past 43 years. The Stardust fire on St. Valentine's Day in 1981 was a national tragedy and left a legacy of pain for families, the community and indeed the people of Dublin.

As the youngest of a large family, I remember it being discussed as I grew up. It was only when the inquest commenced that we really moved beyond the event and learned about the 48 - or, as the Taoiseach acknowledged, the 49 - young people who lost their lives that fatal night. The Taoiseach also highlighted that the pen portraits provided at the inquest represent a very important step. The ability to provide those portraits gave the bereaved families an opportunity to describe and celebrate the lives of their loved ones. While the conclusion of the inquiry and today's State apology will not bring back those who were lost they are important steps on the road for justice for the 48 families, for which they have been fighting for over 40 years.

I welcome the Tánaiste's remarks to the that the State must follow through on the commitments and the remaining steps. This must be done in consultation with the families, who must be at the centre of that process. I hope the verdict and today's State apology will bring some peace for the bereaved families and all those impacted by this terrible loss. We recall and we pray for those who have passed away without witnessing today's momentous occasion and who fought for the victims of this tragedy for so long.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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My role in this matter was quite small, but I would like to illustrate how hard the families worked on this. I was appointed Dublin spokesperson for my party in 2016. As a Dublin spokesperson, along with colleagues who preceded me in that role, it fell to me to meet the families, which I did on a number of occasions along with my party leader, who was leader of the Opposition at the time.

I was sent in to bat and found that I had very little to bat with. Parliamentary questions and all the efforts made by me, by many members of the Opposition and by my predecessors in the role seemed to be met with silence. It became more and more frustrating meeting the families. It was with a great sense of surprise and shock initially but then huge delight that I woke one morning to learn that then Attorney General, Séamus Woulfe, who deserves huge commendation in this process, decided against the backdrop of decades of denial that an inquest ought to take place. That inquest has taken place, the verdict has been delivered and the Taoiseach and Ministers have spoken very eloquently. On my way into the Dáil today, I tried to place myself in the shoes of the parents, grandparents and siblings of the victims to see exactly what they might be feeling coming here. I hope they feel an enormous sense of vindication. I imagine that fatigue is one of the overriding feelings they have experienced.

As a very minor political player at the time - and I offer my apologies to Antoinette, who I have met several times, and other family members - the one thing I have learned is that behind every Minister are officials. Very often, officials provide the official answers that the Minister delivers. That is one of the most frustrating things I found, but, again, after four decades, politics worked when the Attorney General of the country said that it was way beyond time that an inquest was held.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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For young Dubliners in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Stardust Ballroom was the place to be. It was a huge venue that hosted cabarets, concerts and discos at weekends. Such was its popularity that you could get a bus from the quays in the city centre directly to the nightclub in Artane. With three bars, a stage and a large dance floor, it was a wonderland for night-time revellers. At capacity, it held close to 1,500 people. It was a goldmine. It hosted names such as Joe Dolan, Dickie Rock, Cliff Richard, the iconic Thin Lizzy and even U2, so young people would flock there to sing and dance their hearts out, forget the cares of the world and have the craic with their friends. For a generation, the Stardust Ballroom was a place of excitement, fun and the endless possibilities of a night out.

On 13 February 1981, hundreds of young people headed to the Stardust for a St. Valentine's dance. They would have done all of the things young people do getting ready for a big night out - blared the music in their bedrooms, picked out the clothes to look their best in, got the hair just right and made sure they had enough money in their pockets so the night would be all that it could be. It was a Friday night in Dublin on a St. Valentine's weekend. They were young and full of life and the world was their oyster.

As they hurried out their front doors, you can imagine their casual farewells: "See you in the morning"; "Don’t be worrying"; "Yes, I have a key"; "Leave the light on so I can let myself in later"; "Don't wait up"; "Love you, Ma"; and "Love you, Da." For 48 of these young people, this was the last time they would say goodbye to their mother, their father and their family, and they did not know it. These 48 young people, who were so full of life and so full of love, went out to enjoy a dance and never came home.

The Stardust was busy that night. A big attraction was the dance competition, which was won by Errol Buckley. His brother Jimmy, bursting with pride, jumped up on the stage to hug him when his name was announced. It was the last happy moment they would have together. A little after 1.30 a.m., a fire was spotted in the west alcove of the ballroom. What initially appeared to be a manageable fire quickly escalated out of control. Staff tried to tackle the blaze with fire extinguishers but to no avail. It spread at a terrifying pace throughout the club, fuelled by the PVC-coated polyester fabric on the seating and the highly flammable carpet tiles on the walls. Survivors recalled the inferno looking like a monster, a living thing coming after you with a frightening ferocity.

As the heat rose and the fire spread, confusion reigned for people who had no time to grasp the horrifying scene that engulfed them. The fire melted material on the ceiling, which then dripped onto the crowd. A huge cloud of thick, black, poisonous smoke enveloped everyone. People collapsed because they simply could not breathe, and then came a massive bang. The lighting in the nightclub failed. Darkness. Mass panic. People rushed towards the exit in a desperate bid to escape. The section of the crowd that rushed for the main exit was carried along in a crushing sea of desperation. Only one door of the main exit was open. The other had to be kicked open. Some people lost their footing as they reached for air and to escape. Antoinette Keegan, whose sisters Martina and Mary were killed in the fire, said:

I was on the ground, couldn’t get up, with my sisters. We were all holding one another’s hands. It was just like a fireball that came down and it was coming towards us. I remember putting my hands over my head. My last words I ever remember saying in there before I lost consciousness was: ‘Oh God help us.’

Those who tried to escape through the fire exits found them chained and padlocked shut. Windows were blocked with metal grilles and steel plates, making escape impossible. Those who ran into the toilets remained trapped inside the nightclub even as people outside tried to help them get out. They tried to remove the metal grilles with sledgehammers and axes but they would not budge. Firefighters, who first arrived at the scene at 1.49 a.m., tried to pull them down with a chain attached to a fire engine but they would not budge. Many of those trapped inside ran back in the direction of the blaze and smothering black smoke. They could not find an escape route. Time ran out. In less than half an hour, the fire had ripped through the entire ballroom, and then the screams inside stopped. Silence.

As Artane and the city of Dublin slept their way into St. Valentine's Day, innocence died with those young lives taken in the Stardust - with those young people so brutally injured in the Stardust. The news of the fire and fatalities had spread through the early morning. Families gathered at the local Garda station desperately seeking information about their loved ones. They were told to get the bus – to get the bus to the hospital or the morgue. This callousness set the tone for the 43 years of disrespect and contempt that these families would face. Families waited and waited for news, waited and waited for their loved ones to be identified.

They waited in pain and in agony for days. The families of five victims would have to wait until 2007 for their loved ones to be identified. Some families were handed a body bag with just a number tag on it. There were given no say on the graveyard in which their loved ones were buried, no say in the choice of undertaker, no support and no counselling. Traumatised families had to rely on each other for comfort and help.

As the families suffered this cruelty, the big lie was already in motion, spreading as fast as the fire itself. The big lie was that the Stardust fire was caused by arson. The nation's newspaper headlines screamed "Arson". It was a lie repeated over and over again. This smeared and criminalised the victims and survivors, suggesting that one of their number was responsible. It was a lie that devastated families and further traumatised survivors. To this day, those families and survivors still ask who crafted that lie, who spun it, who spread it and why. What was their motive and who were they protecting? Forty-three years on and they still do not have the answers to those questions.

In November 1981, the original tribunal, presided over by the former Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Ronan Keane, concluded that the fire was probably caused by arson. The big lie then became the State's official position. One survivor described to me her experience of that tribunal as aggressive and hostile, how she was cross-examined by eight different barristers, and how she felt bullied and intimidated. She was a traumatised survivor of the Stardust inferno and she was 18 years old. The arson lie would remain on the public record for decades. If the Keane tribunal compounded the arson lie, then the compensation scheme that followed compounded the State's utter contempt for the families.

Families were forced to sign non-disclosure agreements. Families were threatened that they would lose their homes and be cast into poverty if they sought an independent legal route. This is how the State behaved towards families who had suffered enormous loss and incalculable grief. The lives of victims' families were literally destroyed by the Stardust fire; destroyed lives of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends, and a child. Gertrude Barrett, the mother of Michael Barrett, who was 17 when he was killed in the Stardust, powerfully summed up the impact on her family and others:

Like a tornado [she said], the Stardust fire ripped through the core of our beings, wreaking havoc and utter devastation in its wake, leaving nothing untouched, be it our homes, our lives, our relationships, our education, our future, our outlook on life, in fact our everything, nothing was ever the same again and changed forever as we knew it.

I had only seventeen and a half years of 'normality'/regular family life, my youngest son had ten years, my middle son had fourteen and my daughter had sixteen years; no matter how long my children live, their lives as they knew it, ended at ages 10, 14 and 16. The rest of their rearing years were done through a sea of tears, unimaginable grief, sadness, sorrow and an untold amount of emotional pain.

Others have spoken so bravely of family members falling into addiction, depression, illness and health complications because they simply could not cope with the weight of the grief and loss. So many parents went to their graves without having the truth about the deaths of their child acknowledged. They died without the comfort of vindication and yet, incredibly, the families kept going.

The seeds of this extraordinary resilience were planted by John Keegan, who established the Stardust Victims Committee in 1985. John would die the following year on the same day he lost his Supreme Court case for personal injuries from the deaths of his daughters Mary and Martina in the Stardust. The ruling stood in sharp contrast to the more than half a million pounds in legal compensation paid to the owner of the Stardust following the original tribunal. One law for the rich, another for ordinary people; a tale as old as time that still holds true today.

For decades the families and campaigners pushed for a new inquiry and were obstructed by the State every step of the way. Instead of backing and delivering a new inquiry, governments continued to circle the wagons. In 2007, families were forced to withdraw from a Government-established review of new information because the chair, John Gallagher SC, had represented gardaí at the original tribunal. It is still mind-blowing that this would happen in the first place. In 2009, when the Coffey review finally ruled that there was no evidence that the fire was caused by arson, still even then the Government refused to establish a new inquiry. Truth and justice were swept under the carpet.

In 2017, following a review of new evidence compiled by the families, Mr. Justice Pat McCartan failed to recommend a new inquiry. After 36 years of fighting for truth and justice, no new inquiry was again the response of the State to people it should have moved heaven and earth to vindicate. And yet, a year later, a chink of hope cut through the darkness. The families discovered new evidence with which to petition the Attorney General for a new inquest. In 2019, following a submission made on behalf of the families by Phoenix Law, the then Attorney General, Seamus Woulfe, announced that a new inquest would be held into the Stardust fire. The light at the end of a very dark, long tunnel grew brighter, but once again the contempt of the State towards the families came to the surface. After 43 years of struggle, the State had attempted to exclude elderly parents of victims from access to legal support and to that very inquest. Families had to fight to ensure inquest jurors were selected in a transparent way and would have their incomes protected. More obstruction, more disrespect and more contempt - consistent behaviours that spanned more than four decades. At each and every turn the State abused its power to bully, intimidate, pressure and coerce heartbroken mothers, grieving fathers and devastated families. Instead of the State standing shoulder to shoulder with the Stardust families, it lined up against them again and again. The State placed so little or no value on the lives of 48 working-class young people that were snuffed out in the Stardust ballroom. To the powerful, these young people and their families did not matter, and that is the cold, hard truth.

This travesty happened on the watch of successive governments, taoisigh and Ministers for Justice. The hope of governments was that the families would eventually stop, eventually shut up, eventually give up and eventually go away. Those governments forgot one very important thing. You do not mess with Dublin ma's; you do not mess with Dublin da's. You do not mess with Irish mammies, daddies and families, not when they are fighting for justice for their children because you will lose and they will win, even if it takes them 43 long years. They will win. When they know they have right on their side, ordinary people keep going, and that is a lesson that those in power would do very well to remember.

Today, finally, the State apologises for all of it because the families of the Stardust victims did not stop.

They did not shut up. They did not give up. They did not go away. They are here today in the Public Gallery of the Dáil and they are here in victory. I want to say this to you: to the ordinary people of Ireland, your loved ones always mattered. The ordinary people of Ireland were always on your side, always had your backs, mourned with you, shed tears with you. They saw your suffering and they never abandoned you. They never forgot what you had lost. The late lamented and indomitable Charlie Bird told your story with passion and grace and he supported you every step of the way. Our great national bard, Christy Moore penned and sang your soft, beautiful anthem for justice. It called out the powerful and named the crocodile tears, and "They Never Came Home" has rung out powerfully wherever people gather for a sing-song now, and it always will. The inspiration you provided for over 40 years and the solidarity of the people, that sense of community, that is the real Ireland, not the bitter contempt inflicted upon you by those who should have upheld your rights. Inniu, faoi dheireadh, gabhann an Stáit a leithscéal le teaghlaigh na ndaoine a maraíodh go neamhdhleathach sa tine Stardust agus leo siúd a tháinig slán. Ar feadh 43 bliain, chuir an Stáit agus Rialtais i ndiaidh a chéile bac romhaibh gach uile uair, ach rinne sibh cinnte gur tháinig an fhírinne chun solais.

When the verdict came through last Thursday, it confirmed what the people of Ireland already knew: unlawful killing. Unlawful killing 48 times. It was not arson. None of the young people who went to the Valentine's dance were responsible. Now the big lie that has cast a shadow over your lives since 13 February 1981 has been lifted once and for all. The Stardust fire robbed your families of a lifetime of happiness. It broke the heart of this city and took the breath of the nation. For 43 years, successive governments obstructed the revealing of truth. Justice was kept out of reach for those left to bear unimaginable loss. Birthdays, Christmases, christenings, weddings - more than four decades of family occasions with the trauma of that fire in Artane running through them. So this moment, this victory, this vindication is first and foremost for those unlawfully killed, for the survivors, for the courageous families who have lived for years with the pain of the lies, with the ghosts of unanswered questions and with the sorrow of the empty chair. The Buddhists say three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth. For the 48 young people who never came home, finally the truth is revealed. For the survivors who have endured a lifetime of suffering, finally the truth has prevailed and you, their families, brought the truth home for them. Now, let justice flow like a river.

Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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I have very vivid memories of the Stardust fire. I was living in Darndale at the time and my dad was working nights, so he would come home from work and go to bed. We as kids would get up early and watch the television so my da could have his sleep. I remember going down. I cannot remember exactly what was on the TV that day but I remember flicking through the stations and the news of the Stardust came up on the screen. I remember running upstairs to wake my da to tell him about the fire. I remember the panic in his eyes as it dawned on him that the place would have been packed and that maybe some of his nieces or nephews would have been there. We had no house phone at the time and the nearest phone was up the road from us. When we got there, there was a queue of people, all distressed, who were all there for the same reason. They were trying to locate their loved ones and to make sure they were OK.

In the days that followed we saw funeral after funeral. A dark cloud hung over our community, a dark cloud that hung for far, far too long. The memories of that night will stick with our community forever, generations of people who live with both the mental and the physical scars caused not only by that fire but by the treatment of people in our community by the State in the weeks, months and years that followed. We were told that the cause of the fire was probable arson, while none of the victims' families believed that to be the case. I cannot overstate how insulting that initial finding was not only to the victims and the survivors but to our community as a whole. The trauma is still felt to this day, the trauma of the tragedy and the trauma of the way in which the families of the victims and the survivors were treated. From day one in the eyes of this State they did not matter. Instead it was abuse after abuse, insult after insult, dismissal after dismissal. Here is the truth: they did matter and they do matter.

As a TD for Dublin Bay North I am proud to look at the Public Gallery today and to be here with you while the State gives its long-overdue apology. Those beautiful young people, who had their whole lives ahead of them, mattered. They had hopes, they had dreams, likes and dislikes, hobbies and interests, and all that was taken from them. They were dehumanised and, as their families said, they were bagged and tagged, their beautiful loved ones reduced to numbers.

The pen portraits at the fresh inquest tried to undo some of that damage, and I commend Dr. Cullinane on facilitating the use of pen portraits. It enabled the families to rehumanise their loved ones, to share with the world everything they loved about them. The world got to know the victims, like Michael Barrett who, in the words of this mother, had a great sense of humour and was always willing to lend a hand; Richard Bennett, a wise head on young shoulders who looked after his family and put bread on the table; Carol Bissett, who was academically gifted and had a real ear for music; Jimmy Buckley, an avid GAA fan who did a cracking impersonation of Elvis Presley and was caring and a loving brother; Paula Byrne, a people's person who cared greatly for her family and her friends; Caroline Carey, a talented singer and dancer; John Colgan, who his sister described as a charmer, always seeking to put a smile on people's faces; Jacqueline Croker, a Roches Stores employee, a hard worker with family at heart and who was loving and kind; Liam Dunne, a trainee butcher and a friend to many; Michael Farrell, a loving son who would have moved heaven and earth for his mother at the drop of a hat; Michael Ffrench, who was training to be an auto electrician and who could turn his hand to anything;

David Flood, who talked about owning his own shoe shop and was handy with a guitar in hand; Thelma Frazer, a beautiful, wide smile and a gentle and kind soul; Josephine Glen, described as kind and loving, who was happy to babysit for her neighbours because she loved kids; Michael Griffiths, a happy, outgoing man who loved his family and they all looked up to him; Robert Hillick, who grew up in Belfast and came to work in Dublin on the building sites after he left school; Brian Hobbs, the youngest of seven, was a good worker who loved travelling and loved making friends; Eugene Hogan, a beautiful singer who was due to move to Kerry with his wife and two young daughters; Murtagh Kavanagh, who enjoyed cooking, fishing and music, and worked as a heating insulator; Martina Keegan, described as a best friend to her sisters and someone they could always confide in; Mary Keegan, who idolised her siblings and who was described as beautiful inside and out; Robert Kelly, a lover of music, who enjoyed his job working on the boats and was idolised by all who knew him; Mary Kenny, a loving big sister who was kind, funny and a great friend and had a passion for dancing and fashion; Marie Kennedy, who was described by her younger sister as warm, caring, lively and protective; Margaret Kiernan, who was a lover of sports and socialising, a deeply caring person with many, many friends; Sandra Lawless, a generous sister who loved outdoor activities and outdoor life; Francis and Maureen Lawlor, husband and wife, parents of Lisa, who was orphaned at 17 months; Paula Lewis, a fan of Abba, the Bay City Rollers and The Osmonds, was a loving big sister; Eamonn Loughman, a protective big brother whose parents passed away without seeing truth or justice for Eamonn; Donna Mahon worked in the local newsagents, which fitted nicely with her because she loved people; Helena Mangan, a mother, who was kind, caring, loving, brave and strong; William McDermott, a protective big brother who was described as a gentle giant; George McDermott, a joker of the family, a gentle person with a cheeky grin that said he could be up to anything; Marcella McDermott, who spoiled her nephews and was a keen singer and dancer; Julie McDonald, who did everything to please her mother and siblings, a hard worker who was fun loving; Teresa McDonnell, who had a perspective for living life and enjoying every moment of her short life; Gerard McGrath, who had a unique passion for wildlife and extensive knowledge of garden birds; Caroline McHugh, a keen academic with a passion for the arts; James Miller, engaged to Marion, who travelled the world in the merchant navy by the age of 21, before settling back in Dublin; Susan Morgan, a lover of football who moved from Derry to work in Nazareth House care home on Malahide Road; David Morton, a big brother who was football mad and loved socialising with his friends; Kathleen Muldoon, a mature young woman who cared much for her parents, her brothers and her sisters; George O'Connor, quiet and reserved, was adored by his younger siblings; Brendan O'Mara, who loved darts and football and was a brilliant Irish dancer; John Stout, a sensitive, gentle person who loved horses, snooker and Elvis; Margaret Thornton, who loved music and concerts, and going out with her family and friends, had plans to travel to Australia; Paul Wade, a twin, a loving brother, who was described as outgoing and the social focus of his family.

I would like to finish by using the words of Louise Leech of the McDermott family. On the day of the verdicts she said, "We're taking you out of the flames, the darkness and the smoke of the Stardust, and we're bringing you back to the sunshine and the light and the music. And you're coming back to us."

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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I commend the families of the Stardust fire on their long and courageous battle for justice in the face of opposition, denial and then negotiations, not just the cold shoulder. That includes Marie Hogan, now Griffin, who did in fact move to County Kerry and who gave crucial evidence at the inquest. The families achieved a stunning victory in establishing the inquest initially and then obtaining a finding of unlawful killing based on the facts presented. Families have been dignified, organised and articulate and many would have given up after the delays, the challenges and the countless years that elapsed as parents and relatives passed away. The work of Darragh Mackin and Phoenix Law deserves special recognition. We are fortunate to have courageous lawyers who can fight the corner of those who have been ignored by the State, failed by the State or challenged by the State.

The Stardust will echo throughout Irish history and should be taught in Irish history. These were ordinary young people out for a night to enjoy themselves. That it is every parents nightmare does not do justice to the horror that was inflicted on that night. We can take solace in the courage and strength of ordinary people who fought back against injustice. The families deserve the tributes, including those at recent football matches, proving that the families' campaign enjoys the support of people who understand that this could have happened to them.

While today is a day for the families and for the survivors of the Stardust fire, there are other cases where we have seen State failings, for those who are seeking justice for the deceased, with inquests, inquiries and apologies. For some time fresh inquests have been requested by the families of the Whiddy Island disaster whose victims died in atrocious circumstances in 1979. Despite repeated requests, family members feel they have been ignored repeatedly. In that case, the recorded causes of death for the victims did not reference the circumstances surrounding the fatal incident, including regulatory failures. During that tribunal it was found that the tanker was in poor condition, with evidence of corrosion and leaking, and that Gulf Oil and the employees suppressed the truth about the events that occurred on the night. To this day, two bodies that were recovered remain unidentified, and according to the families, the State has never employed modern techniques to identify them and give solace to the families.

In regard to inquiries, I want to reference the case of Shane O'Farrell. Even this House resolved that there should be an independent inquiry into the circumstances of his death. The failure to move on this continues and the O'Farrell family draws inspiration and shared solidarity with the Stardust families and their need for justice.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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Hear hear.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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Deputy Haughey made reference to the Kerry Babies case and to the apology that was given after 40 years. However, the apology was worded so that it was unclear exactly what the State was apologising for. Questions still remain to be answered. It has never been explained how five of the same statements which dovetailed were made in five different rooms about an event that science deems could not possibly be true.

The family of Captain James Kelly has been waiting for an apology for more than 50 years. Their attempts to secure an apology from the Government have been met with obfuscation and an unwillingness to engage, similar to what happened to the families of the victims of the Stardust fire. The time is now for a full apology for Captain Kelly and for formal recognition that he was acting under orders.

We need to see a sea change for those who are treated poorly by the State.

People should not have to be in court or marching for justice where a wrong has been committed. That is self-evident and it is high time it was recognised.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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In 1981, I was head of Sinn Féin youth. I think I have said this previously in the House in 2017. I remember clearly the events of that time, when I issued a statement. I went into a phone box, put in the change and rang The Irish Press. Phone boxes do not exist any more, and nor does The Irish Press. I remember it clearly, even if I do not remember where I was when I heard the news of what had happened. Last week, I was privileged to go into the court and I saw the pictures of the victims on the wall. Like everyone else in the court, I did not really know what the outcome was going to be, given there had been so many false dawns. When the names were being read out, it was like hammer blows as we listened to one after another. Then we heard how they had died. The judge then read out the verdict and it was a relief for everyone in the room. I will never forget it. I have talked to journalists and they were crying. I was crying, the families were crying and the jury were crying. Even the judge was probably crying. They were cries of relief but also of sadness for all those wasted years that families have had to go through.

There is not much time to talk about the incident but I remember young people being arrested that night. They had been trying to break down the doors. Some of them had fire axes they had got from firemen. There was one young person who rammed a car into the toilet wall to try to get people out. The doors had been locked with chains and they could not get out. I remember listening to Seán Reinhardt on the radio, whom I knew years ago and who used to be the secretary to the group. He was talking about that night, which he survived with severe burns, and about the gasps when the lights went out and the screams that followed. For anyone of that generation, those screams will probably live with us, and clearly with the victims' families, forever. When I spoke in the Chamber about this in 2017, one of my constituents said to me that their family had always talked the fact no one had ever been prosecuted and nothing had ever happened, whereas the owners of the nightclub had been compensated.

I have spoken for too long, but I am really happy for the families here today. I hope they will find some solace in what they have heard from the Taoiseach. Others have mentioned other victims and people we have apologised to belatedly. I think we need collectively to look at how we treat victims and their families. Stardust changed a generation. We will never be the same. I will never be able to go into a nightclub or a pub cellar without looking to see whether there are chains on the doors. I have been abroad and that is the first thing I look for. If I am somewhere strange, I will always look out for that. I was not in the Stardust but I am from that generation. It has changed us, I hope for the better, but we need to look at those regulations and at why they were not implemented. I heard in court about the fireball that went up because of the fire regulations that had not been followed. As I said, the people who owned the nightclub were compensated, and the big question that hangs over today is why nobody was prosecuted.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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On behalf of the Labour Party, on this momentous and poignant day for the survivors and the surviving families of the Stardust victims, I welcome all those in the Visitors Gallery today and express my deepest sympathies and condolences to you all and to your families, your friends and your communities on the appalling loss you suffered 43 years ago. I welcome the fact that at last we have seen a full and reserved State apology offered by the Taoiseach this afternoon. That apology comes following last Thursday's historic verdict, in the State’s longest running inquest, of unlawful killing, which has been so significant for all affected.

The length of the inquest hearing, of course, pales in comparison with the long quest for truth and justice for the 48 who never came home. Evidence heard during the inquest offers a tragic insight into the young lives lost that night, and the pen portraits were so powerful in bringing alive all those children, given some were children, and young people. So many desperately moving stories were told during the inquest, of devastated parents waiting to hear news of children who were not coming home, and of husbands, wives and fiancés who were able to identify their loved ones only by their wedding rings.

The jury heard heartbreaking personal stories. There was the story about Martina Keegan, who had brought a Valentine's Day card to the Stardust for her boyfriend, David Morton. That card was found the next morning outside the club, in water. Others, such as Richard Bennett, almost did not go into the Stardust on that awful night. He had been turned away for not wearing a tie but managed to procure one from someone else, and so he was in the Stardust on Valentine’s night in 1981 and he too lost his life. All those young people's lives were so tragically lost, cut short when going out for a night with friends and family, something we all do, and 48 of them never made it home.

It has been commented previously by others, including Charlie Bird, that if the majority of victims that night had been from another area of Dublin, their awful deaths and the awful tragedy might have been treated differently by the Government of the day. Indeed, the families, all of you, have suffered so much, not just the grief and trauma of the night itself but the aftermath of the failure of the State to support and stand by the families and communities. Injustices have included the payment of compensation to the Butterly family, which others have mentioned. The failure of the State and the sense of injustice have compounded the awful grief and trauma suffered by all the families. Nobody should be denied justice or have to endure the hardship and the State failures we have seen unfold in the years following the disaster.

We know that the number of victims far exceeds those 48 who so tragically died. So many others were injured, so many families bereaved and devastated and so many first responders traumatised, with so many physical and mental scars and impacts felt by so many. Surviving families have spoken so movingly of the devastating effect the tragedy has had on their lives, and so many have had to grapple for so long with the decades-long campaign for justice and answers.

I want to pay particular tribute to one of the campaigners for justice, a wonderful woman I have been privileged to know for many years, who lives in my constituency, Dublin Bay South, namely, Betty Bissett, whose family are from Ringsend and Irishtown and whose 18-year-old daughter, Carol Bissett, was one of those who died so tragically in the Stardust. Speaking to Kitty Holland, Betty told of how the night of the tragedy marked the day when she and her family found themselves "in someone else’s nightmare". She spoke about how she had not been allowed to see Carol, who was in hospital for three days before she died. Betty has spoken of her devastation because she “wasn’t there to hold her hand and tell her how I love her." She said she had been given back Carol's coat and a handful of her jewellery in a plastic bag. That awful indignity compounded the awful trauma suffered by the Bissett family and so many others. I was privileged to be in Betty's house on Saturday with others and to hear directly from her about her enormous relief that a formal apology would at last be given in the Dáil this week, and that was after they had met the Taoiseach along with other families. I want to pay tribute to Betty and her daughter Liz beside her, to all the other campaigners in the Stardust Victims and Relatives Committee and to incredible campaigners such as Antoinette Keegan, Gertrude Barrett and Brigid McDermott for their courage in their grief.

I commend you all on the fortitude and resilience you have shown over the past four decades. Many champions of the campaign, like Christine and John Keegan, have sadly passed away, but many of you, including Betty and Liz, have joined us in the Gallery to watch today’s proceedings. We all hope you will have some comfort and solace from today.

Whatever consolation can be offered by this apology and the important inquest verdict, it comes more than four decades too late. Sadly, we know that there was ample opportunity over the years to address the awful suffering of survivors and that active steps were taken to evade accountability. The horrific deaths and injuries suffered at the Stardust were compounded by the disrespect and callous treatment of the families and the flawed and deeply wrong conclusions of the Keane report. The cruel conclusion of arson cast a dark shadow for far too long over the memories of 48 blameless young people and all the others there that night.

The later 2009 Coffey report, which at last rejected that arson finding, was edited to remove a line accepting that a new inquiry was necessary if it was the only way of placing on the public record a finding that was based on evidence. But for a freedom of information request, it is likely that that important line in the report would never have come to light. The effect of the deletion was that a full, robust and honest apology did not issue in 2009 when it should have. We again saw a step back in 2017. As the saying goes, justice delayed is justice denied. For all of the Stardust families and communities, justice has come very slowly. The true facts that led to the historic decision by the then Attorney General, Mr. Justice Séamus Woulfe, to hold a new inquest were uncovered by the tireless campaigning of survivors and surviving relatives, supported by individuals such as Charlie Bird and my former Labour Party colleague, Tommy Broughan, who spoke so movingly in the Dáil in 2009 in the wake of the Coffey report and pointed out that, on some streets in Artane, every second house had a family connection to one of the tragic victims or survivors of the event. He stated: "The scars relating to what happened that night are still deeply etched across our community and have been made worse by the appallingly shabby and at times almost inhuman way the Stardust victims and relatives have been treated". The road to justice should not have been so hard.

As the leader of an Opposition party that has served in government and on behalf of the Labour Party, I wish to join the Taoiseach and every other Member of the House in offering a heartfelt apology to the Stardust families. We hear you, we believe you and we are profoundly sorry, not only for the tragic deaths of your dear loved ones, but also for your subsequent battle for truth, which lasted for four decades and should never have been so difficult. Of course, we know that no apology, no matter how robust or fulsome, can turn back time. It cannot bring back those 48 children and young people whose futures were stolen in 1981.

What can change now, though, is the State's attitude to those who suffer a wrong and to society as a whole. Today is a day for apology, recognition and acknowledgment, but over future days, we must see fresh engagement on other issues, for example, redress and investigation, to ensure that no family will ever have to endure what you have gone through. We know that it is the role of the State to place the well-being of the people above all else and that we must do better to ensure that no family has to go through this again.

I will conclude by acknowledging the immense work of Dr. Myra Cullinane, the coroner, who handled the inquest with such sensitivity. I commend and pay tribute to all of the Stardust families and survivors. This day belongs to you. You fought so hard for the memory of your 48 loved ones. I hope that today's apology will give you some closure. It was good to hear the names of the 48 spoken again in this House. They will be forever remembered here. Indeed, all of us of a certain age remember where we were when the news broke. I was 12, nearly a teenager. All of us in Dublin and across the country who heard the news continue to check fire escapes wherever we go. I am now the mother of teenagers myself and I can only imagine the horrific heartbreak you are still enduring so many years on. We are truly sorry. You have suffered such appalling loss.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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The truth shall set you free, or so they say. What we heard last Thursday was, indeed, the truth. We can only pray that the truth has begun to set the families of the 48 free – free from the campaigning, the meetings, the closed doors, the trauma, the criticism and the lies, free from 43 years of seeking the truth, free from the disgusting suspicion that the phrase “probable arson” hung around the entirety of north Dublin for two generations, free in the knowledge that the souls of the 48, or 49 including Caroline Carey’s unborn baby, can now rest in peace and in freedom.

Growing up in north Dublin, the Stardust was an open wound that never healed. Spoken about in hushed tones, the very word “Stardust” reminded us of unspeakable horrors – young people lured into a deathtrap, their lives and futures stolen from them, their families bereft with grief, all for the hands that fumbled in a greasy till. My granny lived in Donnycarney, my father spent his teaching life in Whitehall, my brothers went to school at Chanel College. When they spoke of Stardust, it was not just about the loss of life, but also the stench of injustice. The finding of unlawful killing should have been made 43 years ago. The reasons it took 43 years are inescapable. It was because of where the fire took place and the background of many of those who attended – a prominently working-class community where lives were just not as important. It is an insult to the very concept of a republic that anyone should live a second-class life or die a second-class death, but it is an undeniable truth. In this Chamber, the symbol of that republic on this day of all days, we must speak the truth because the truth shall set you free.

None of us can possibly comprehend the loss of a child in a fire. To know that one’s child, sibling or parent could have escaped if the exit doors were not hampered is a heartbreak. To learn that the immediate tribunal’s findings were of probable arson and that the owner of the nightclub was the one to be compensated would surely push one over the edge. Many were pushed over the edge. In their book, They Never Came Home: The Stardust Story, which I must have read ten times, Mr. Neil Fetherstonhaugh and Mr. Tony McCullagh referred to the number outside of the 48 who succumbed to the darkness in their minds caused by their loss or by their experiences and did not live to see this day. Our hearts break for them and their families today. We hope that the truth has set you free.

We must reflect on the darkness within Irish society that thinks the worst of those who need us to hear the truth and on a society that thinks the best of those who wear a suit and tie and lie – not just the nightclub owner who oversaw a disaster waiting to happen, but the developers who have constructed firetrap apartment blocks with the full blessing of the political system. We have to ask about those second-class lives that are still not worthy of the truth and other cases of injustice affecting those from the wrong side of the tracks. For example, I think of the family of Terence Wheelock, a healthy young man who walked into Store Street Garda station almost 20 years ago but came out in a coffin. These things just do not happen to middle-class men. I also think of the families of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, who still seek the truth.

To the families here today, you have given this country the truth. You have given hope to all who yearn for the truth. You were inspired by the Bloody Sunday families in Derry and the Hillsborough families in Liverpool. I know what you were told – that there was nothing to be achieved in pursuing this campaign, that all evidence was lost, that you needed to move on, that you were difficult, that you could not accept the truth – but you did not accept those words because they were not the truth. You have the truth now. The truth is setting all of us free.

There are many who need to be mentioned: those family members who never grew up; the firefighters on the scene that night; journalists like Charlie Bird especially, in whose eyes the truth endured even when his voice was gone through illness; the truth in the words sung by Christy Moore; the classmates with empty desks in their classrooms; the gardaí, teachers, nurses, doctors and all those other public servants for whom Stardust is not a topic of discussion, but a moment when their hearts broke forever; and those in this proud northside community whose hearts were broken and are still broken.

If those you loved were unlawfully killed, someone unlawfully killed them. It is time for the Garda, the DPP and the Minister for Justice to do what is right, and what would happen in any other case of corporate manslaughter in any other part of the city. There must be another day in court.

Stardust will always be a scar: a tale of greed, recklessness, horror and poisonous lies, but also a tale of resilience, hope, campaigning and truth. The Stardust families are heroes of this Republic. We are honoured to be in their presence today. They would much rather not be here. They would much rather have seen their loved ones grow older in the last 43 years but they have all made us want to be better, to work harder, to campaign more, to listen more, to judge less and to speak the truth.

The truth, we hope, has set the families free and set free the souls of Michael, Richard, Carol, James, Paula, Caroline, John, Jacqueline, Liam, Michael, David, Thelma, Michael, Josephine, Michael, Robert, Brian, Eugene, Murtagh, Martina, Mary, Robert, Mary, Mary, Margaret, Sandra, Francis, Maureen, Paula, Eamon, George, Marcella, William, Julie, Teresa, Gerard, Caroline, Donna, Helena, James, Susan, David, Kathleen, George, Brendan, John, Margaret and Paul, all of whose faces rightly hung up on the wall of the Rotunda inquest hall.

An injustice on this scale can fester and make you feel that you can never trust the State again but earlier I saw a rose in the Gallery. From this darkness, maybe something can grow - truth and hope. Truth will always set us free.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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I want to start by warmly welcoming the members of the Stardust families who are here today. It has been a long and difficult road to justice but their perseverance, courage and deep love of their family members has brought us here to this historic, but long overdue, day.

It is less than a week since the jury in the Stardust inquest returned the verdicts that families and survivors have waited so long for - recognition that on that terrible night, on 14 February 1981, 48 young people were unlawfully killed. It is a date that will be forever associated with this country's worst ever fire tragedy - a tragedy that is seared into the Irish psyche. Such was the magnitude of the disaster, most people can remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they first heard about the horrific nightclub fire in Artane.

At the outset, I want to acknowledge the fast pace of the Government's response this week to the families' calls for a comprehensive and meaningful State apology for the litany of wrongs perpetrated against the victims over the course of four decades. It is also welcome that the Stardust families and their legal team were afforded the opportunity to have an input into what should be included in today's apology. The speed of the response is not only appropriate and proper; it is the very minimum that they deserve.

It makes a refreshing change to see the State doing the right thing when it comes to its treatment of Stardust families because never has the expression "Justice delayed is justice denied" been more applicable to any group of people than the Stardust relatives and survivors. Never have the victims of such a grave injustice had to fight for so long to vindicate the rights of their loved ones - so long, in fact, that many parents and relatives, despite campaigning for justice for more than half of their lives, did not live to witness this or last week's monumental verdicts of unlawful killing. They too, along with those who perished in the fire or were injured that night, are very much in our thoughts today.

Last week's verdicts represented a rare victory in the Stardust families' decades-long campaign for justice. Their journey has been one of false dawns, countless setbacks and bitter disappointments. The senior Dublin city coroner, Dr. Myra Cullinane, is owed a debt of gratitude for the impartial, respectful and sensitive manner in which these inquests were conducted. Equally, members of the jury have done this country an enormous public service by giving a year of their lives to sit through hours of complex evidence and often harrowing testimony. There is no doubt that they arrived at the correct verdict last week when they determined that all 48 victims had been unlawfully killed. However, in the past few days the relief and the joy that greeted these verdicts has given way to justifiable public anger that it has taken so long to get to this point, that many parents did not live to see this watershed moment, and that the suffering of the families and survivors was compounded by State inaction, deeply ingrained classism and an adversarial legal system that often seemed weighted in favour of the wealthy.

In 2019, when directing that there should be a new inquest, the then Attorney General, Mr. Séamus Woulfe, said there had been "an insufficiency of inquiry" at the original inquest in March 1982 as to how the deaths occurred. I suggest that "insufficiency of inquiry" is an understatement, to say the least. The latest inquest sat for 122 days, lasted almost a year and heard from over 370 witnesses. This is in stark contrast to the 1982 inquest which concluded after just five days with its findings confined to the medical causes of death, not the surrounding circumstances such as the cause of the fire. It makes one wonder how different things could have been for the families had the original inquest arrived at the same conclusion which was reached last week. Would such a verdict have influenced the final report of the Keane tribunal, which only months later delivered the devastating conclusion that the fire was probably started deliberately? Would it have prevented the owners of the Stardust from proceeding with their malicious damages case against Dublin Corporation which led to them receiving compensation of £580,000 in 1983? Would an unlawful killing verdict in 1982 have resulted in a speedier path to compensation for victims' families and those left with life-changing injuries? Today is about an official State apology, not redress. That may be a matter for another day and it is one that should be informed by the Stardust families' wishes, but it is worth pointing out that more value was put on the loss of a building than the loss of life. Appallingly, the Government compensation scheme paid bereaved parents just £7,500 for each child who died in the Stardust fire.

Detailed evidence on key issues that led to so many deaths and injuries, such as the status of fire exits, breaches of building regulations and insufficient staff training, was all available back then. As this evidence was fresh at the time, it is baffling that the jury in the most recent inquest at a remove of four decades was able to properly interrogate the facts and establish now what could not have been determined then. The fact that this did not happen at the time is a tragedy in and of itself. Parents would not only have known how their children died; they would have known why.

Instead, despite being paralysed with unimaginable grief, they were forced into a David versus Goliath battle with the State and its institutions. Abandoned by successive Governments, they were forced to take their search for justice for the streets. No campaign group in Ireland’s history have had to protest as much or for as long as they have. The have had to fight the State at every single turn, even for the most basic entitlements. They fought for the return of medical cards initially issued to those injured in the fire but later cruelly withdrawn. They fought for a memorial park in Coolock to ensure those who never came home would never be forgotten. They fought for a new inquiry into the cause of the fire only to see their hopes evaporate after several Government-sanctioned reviews.

Before last Thursday’s verdicts, the only significant victory secured by the Stardust campaigners was a finding in Paul Coffey’s 2009 report that there was no evidence for the probable arson conclusion reached by the Keane tribunal in 1982. The suggestion of arson heaped pain upon pain and cast unfounded suspicion on every person who attended the Stardust disco that fateful night. Understandably, this was seen by families as a case of victim-blaming at its most hurtful. The Dáil record was corrected to remove this damaging conclusion following publication of the Coffey report in 2009. Up until then the families and survivors were forced to live with this smear on their good names for 27 years. Neither this report nor a subsequent review of evidence by retired judge Pat McCartan recommended a new inquiry. However, undeterred by yet another disappointment - incredibly - the families picked themselves us and successfully made the case for a new inquest into the death of their loved ones. The striking of the probable arson theory from the public record in 2009, while welcome, did not resolve the issue of how the fire started. Last week’s inquests also confirmed what many had long suspected, namely that the fire was caused by an electrical fault.

Today’s apology must mean more than words. It must mark a turning point for reform in how victims of injustice are treated in this country. The Government must examine and change a culture in which victims of State wrongdoing are viewed with suspicion and met with official pushback and legal impediments when they challenge the authorities. Biases in the system must also be addressed in a serious way in order to provide equality before the law. The Stardust families must now be afforded the time and space to reflect on the events of the past week and decide where they want to go from here. While their sense of loss and pain will be lifelong, I sincerely hope last week’s verdicts and today’s State apology will bring some comfort and some help with the healing process. You should know today that this House and the entire country are behind you and that your loved ones will never be forgotten.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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Forty-three years. I join others in welcoming the families to the Gallery and saying the unlawful killing verdict is very welcome, the formal State apology that has been given is very welcome and the inquests' conclusion as to how the fire started and why it spread so rapidly is welcome. It has put to bed once and for all the original tribunal’s conclusion that the fire was probably started deliberately. That was a highly damaging finding which pointed the finger of blame at the very community who had suffered the most. This conclusion may have been removed from the public record in 2009, but it left questions about the cause of the fire unanswered officially until last week. An inquest is a statement of fact. The families and relatives now have official confirmation of what they have always known to be true, namely that this was not in any way their fault and that their loved ones were unlawfully killed.

For most of us, the anguish and trauma of losing your loved ones in a fire is utterly unimaginable. To have your son or daughter go out for the evening and never return home because they died in a horrific fire would break any parent’s heart. It is difficult to imagine the level of panic felt by mothers and fathers who woke that Saturday morning to find their children’s beds empty. We cannot even begin to think what must have been going through their minds as they began the frantic search for their loved ones in Garda stations, hospitals and, sadly for some, at the makeshift morgue at the Dublin Coroner’s Court, where a tent had to be erected by the Army medical corps due to the mounting death toll. It was here that some of the most distressing scenes were witnessed, with many parents handed items of jewellery or pieces of clothing in order that their children could be identified. Five victims went to their graves without being identified, their bodies placed side by side in a common plot in St. Fintan’s Cemetery in Sutton. It would take until 2007 for advances in DNA technology allowed for these victims to be finally identified. The concentration of victims who came from within a mile radius of the Stardust was staggering. It is hard to find a family in this part of the city that has not been impacted in some way by the tragedy.

The tight-knit northside community still bears the scars of that dreadful night and its immediate aftermath – the multiple funerals, the empty school desks the following week and the colleagues who would never turn up for work again. For many families, the passage of time did not ease the pain. This was not helped by the lack of counselling or mental health supports for families and survivors, just one of many State failings in the official response to the Stardust tragedy. Some 14 years after the fire, a report given to the congress of the World Federation for Mental Health found that many parents were still utterly consumed by grief. When the report’s findings were presented at a conference in Trinity College, one doctor described the families as "quite an ill population". Some of the parents interviewed reported a deterioration in their physical health. Others said there had been no lessening of their feelings of loss since the fire and that other parents had died of heartbreak. To think that these same parents would be put through another three decades of waiting for a dignified response from the State, heaping trauma upon trauma, is simply beyond our comprehension. It is the unwavering love for their lost ones that drove these families to persist for 43 years in seeking the truth.

I pay tribute the 48 people who lost their lives as the result of unlawful killing at the Stardust and who never came home. I pay tribute to those who survived the fire and lived the rest of their lives with the trauma of that night, when they lost brothers, sisters and friends who did not make it out alive. I pay tribute to those emergency service workers, hospital staff, doctors, taxi drivers and all those who cared for and supported the victims of the fire and the survivors on that awful night. I pay tribute to the families who lost their loved ones in the Stardust and campaigned year in and year out for the truth for their loved ones. I especially pay tribute to those family members, many of them parents, who did not live to see this day and never got to hear their loved ones’ reputations being exonerated last week. The families who lost loved ones have had to fight every step of the way for over 43 years. Which of us can imagine what that would be like? Imagine the pain of losing your son or daughter, brother or sister or your parents and then having to fight every step of the way for truth and justice only to have the State and the political establishment turn their backs on you and frustrate you at every turn. They were ignored, they were not believed and they felt treated like second-class citizens.

Let us not pretend that this shameful mistreatment all belongs in the distant past, because it does not. Even when the decision was taken to hold the inquests, the families and their legal representatives had to fight step by step to ensure the process would work. They had to fight for a workable system of legal aid. They had to ask again and again for the inquest to be set up in a way that could work. They even had to fight for a venue in which to hold the inquests.

Time after time, they had to keep pushing simply in order that the truth could be established. Today, after 43 years, the Stardust families finally have truth on their side.

Have lessons been learnt? When it comes to building standards and regulations, we still have a very long way to go. Two words sum up the problem, namely "light touch". We still have a form of light-touch building control and regulation in Ireland. How many times in recent years have we seen fires rip through homes where there was meant to be proper fire separation and compartmentalisation? Why is it still not being taken as seriously as it needs to be? The fire safety regulations have just been reviewed and updated. One of the issues I raised in a submission was that of smoke toxicity. As it is generally smoke and not fire that kills people, the level of smoke toxicity in building materials is highly important. On 14 June 2017, 72 people lost their lives in a devastating fire at Grenfell Tower. While many factors contributed to this horrendous loss of life, exceptionally high levels of smoke toxicity were a key issue. A 2004 report from the UK's Building Research Establishment noted that just two countries in Europe have no standards with respect to levels of smoke toxicity. Those two countries were the UK and Ireland. It is alarming that the updated building regulations on fire safety fail to regulate and limit smoke toxicity levels. When will the lives of people be put first and ahead of the interests of the companies that continue to lobby for low standards?

After 43 years, making a State apology is without a doubt the correct thing to do. However, we can and should do better than that. As legislators, we can get things right in the first place. We can stand up against light-touch regulation and regulations written by and for industry. We can put the lives of people first. No one should ever have to go through what the 48 families have had to endure over the last four decades. If we are serious about that, we need to be serious about fire safety standards and regulation. In addition to today's overdue apology, this would be a fitting and enduring tribute to the 48 young people who so needlessly lost their lives in the Stardust fire.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Much has been said today. I hope that, for the families of those who lost their loved ones and for the survivors, the State apology and the words spoken here today can do something to provide the solace, truth and justice they have fought for and long deserved. I am very conscious that I am not qualified to know or understand the pain, loss, injustice, trauma and hardship you have endured as a result of the loss of your loved ones and the obstacles that have been put in your way for 43 years as you have tried to get the truth and justice you deserve. I can only say what I know that some of you feel and that I suspect all of you feel, which is that it is deplorable and shameful that it has taken 43 years to get to this moment. It is only because of your courage, bravery, determination and ceaseless campaigning that a political system that has, along with successive governments, failed you has finally been forced to give you some measure of the vindication and acknowledgement you have so long deserved. It is also because of the public support you have got from a great many people. When the political system and successive Governments failed you, many ordinary people stood with you and supported your ceaseless campaign for justice.

I know from talking to some of the families that there is great sadness today that some of those who fought over all of these years are not here to see this moment of acknowledgement and truth and the apology we have seen from the Government. I do not know all of them but, over the years, I have certainly encountered some of the families and their campaign. I think of people like Eugene Kelly and Christine Keegan. Today, I received an email from Mark Frazer, the brother of Thelma Frazer, referring to their father Arthur. I thought I should read some of it. I know that the pen portraits at the inquest were a very important opportunity for the families to remind people of the terrible individual human and family loss you all suffered, of the futures snatched away and of the impact this tragedy, loss and great injustice has had over generations of your families. Mark sent me an email and asked that I just reference it. However, I know that the sentiments expressed within are probably felt by all of the families. I will just read something of what he said.

My sister Thelma Frazer ... the third eldest of nine children, went to the stardust with her boyfriend, Michael Farrell ... and were unlawfully killed, they never came home. Thelma was small in stature with a big heart who loved and cared for the younger siblings when mam took part time evening work. Thelma volunteered with the Order of Malta as a cadet leader.

It was three agonising days before Thelma was identified through dental records and jewellery. This was devastating for our close family, especially our parents. They were left heartbroken. Our neighbours and friends in Bath Avenue, Sandymount, were really kind and of great support.

Both my parents died in their mid-fifties, within 10 years of the fire, from the stress and strain of dealing with the aftermath of the fire.

My father Arthur made it his sole focus in life to get to the truth of the fire and what happened on that night. He was devastated when the Keane tribunal said it was probable arson despite The Gardai saying there was “no evidence of arson”. This tarnished all victims of the fire.

We have waited 43 years despite every agency of the state placing hurdles in front of us to prevent us from obtaining the truth.

During the [recent] inquest we heard evidence which was difficult to listen to at times from survivors and emergency services.

I do not have time to read all of the email, but I will read the last paragraph.

My sister Thelma deserved a long life with Michael. My Parents deserved to grow old to see grandchildren. My brothers and sister deserved comfort and reassurance from our family but were denied because of [the] greed of a rich and powerful family.

I am sure that account speaks not just for the Frazer family, but for a great many of the families. I hope that today will be the beginning of the truth. It is certainly not the end. An apology is not enough.

There has to be true justice and true accountability for those who frustrated the families fight for truth and justice for their loved ones. The State has to explain and own up to its responsibility in all of this. Now that we know the truth, and the families always knew the truth, how could there have been reports that blamed the victims? It put that stigma on them and tarnished their reputations. It sent the message that we did not believe them and did not care, and blamed those who were the victims of this terrible injustice.

I played a small part in this. How could it be, when Antoinette and the campaigners compiled new evidence in 2016-17 - I remember walking across this Chamber to hand the evidence they provided to the then Minister for Justice for the commission of investigation they were seeking - they were ignored and that request was dismissed? It took further campaigning by the families. I remember standing on the streets handing out postcards, and getting the public to sign them in their thousands, asking for the inquest that was finally granted.

How is it that the only person who was ever prosecuted following the unlawful killing of 48 young people in the Stardust fire was the singer, Christy Moore, who wrote a song about the truth? How is that the owner of the Stardust received £500,000 in compensation, when families who suffered 43 years of struggling, the tarnishing of their reputations, the implication that they were lying and all the terrible impacts they felt, including the loss they had suffered, had to fight for this moment?

I commend the families. This is their day. We are here only because of what they have done in their ceaseless fight for justice because of the love they had for their family members who lost their lives and, as we now know, were killed due, as Mark Frazer said, to the greed of a rich and powerful family and the failure of the State to provide its resources to get to the truth. The State ignored and dismissed their struggle for justice for 43 years, but this is their day.

I hope this is the beginning. All I will say to the Government is that the families must lead this. What follows from here must be led by the families. Only they know what truth and justice mean. The Government should provide that for their loved ones and for those who survived this terrible tragedy and injustice.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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I pay tribute to all of the relatives and survivors. Their struggle, determination and resilience is incredibly inspiring against the backdrop of experiencing such horrific tragedy and trauma, faced with a State determined to cover up what happened and block the struggle for the truth. In the face of them and their loved ones being slandered and lied about, they just kept going. In the face of obstacle after obstacle, no justice here and no justice there, and one door after another closed to them, they just kept going. It is really remarkable and inspiring. Exactly as Deputy Boyd Barrett said, it is only because of the families and their struggle that we are here today and have an acknowledgement of the truth they have been fighting to expose.

It is obviously completely right, proper and appropriate that we have this State apology today. However, it is worth asking how this happened and why families were forced to fight for the truth for 43 years. It was not an accident. The State did not just fail the families by not listening enough, by not moving quickly enough, and by the normal wheels of justice not operating because something happened. It is worse than that. The State engaged in a cover-up to deny the truth, to protect the powerful and those responsible, and to blame the victims. That is what happened.

At the root of it, as has been said, is greed. The essence of this horrific tragedy is the greed of people who wanted to make as much money as they possibly could, without regard for fire regulations or people's lives. Therefore, they blocked or locked the exits to stop people getting in without paying, did not pay for fire safety training for staff, and used the infamous carpet tiles on the walls because they were cheaper, regardless of the fact that a fire would spread quicker as a result. It was about money. The people who did that were rich and politically connected, whereas those who were victims were overwhelmingly working-class young people.

The machinery of the State then moved into action not to do what it is meant to do, which is to deliver justice to people, but to protect injustice and spread a lie about the families and their relatives. That is what the Keane report is about. There is no other way that it makes sense for him to write, "the evidence of a motive for a deliberate act of arson on the premises remains tenuous", and go on in those terms, yet also find that the more probable cause was arson. This was part of a cover-up, slander and lie against the families. The obscenity that resulted was that those who originally profited from the tragedy again profited from that ridiculous finding, which had no basis in fact, to the tune of £580,000. It is absolutely obscene.

As mentioned, those who tried to tell the truth were silenced. It is incredible. The words of the song Christy Moore sang only say we do not know how the fire started. It was said that was contempt of court because people wanted to tell the lie that working-class young people started the fire, and that it could have been started by any one of the victims or any one of the survivors. Incredibly, Christy Moore was found to be in contempt of court simply for saying we did not know how the fire started.

We have to acknowledge we now have acknowledgement that there was unlawful killing, but those who did the unlawful killing must be brought to justice. That is the next step.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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After 43 years, there is at last some measure of justice. What a massive vindication for the families who refused to take no for an answer and refused to be ground down by the system. Everybody knows that the verdict is down to their steadfast campaigning on behalf of their loved ones. Everybody knows that the political and judicial establishments put every obstacle possible in the way of justice down through the decades. Nearly 20 successive Governments came, went and did nothing, while this injustice festered.

Never forget the State attempted to smear the names of young people from the surrounding communities.

The tribunal chairman, the High Court judge, Mr. Justice Keane, appointed by the Government of Charles J. Haughey, found the cause of the fire to be "probable arson". Keane's verdict allowed the owners a Fianna Fáil fundraiser. The man whose premises had bars on the bathroom windows and chains on the fire exits painted himself as a victim before going down to the court, making a claim against the corporation and pocketing £539,000, or €2 million in today's money. Unlawful killing of 48 young people: that is what the State has now ruled. We will watch with interest to see if criminal prosecutions follow.

Some people say Ireland does not have a class system. That is not true and never was true. If anyone out there ever doubts it, just look at the story of the Stardust. This was about social class from beginning to end.

If the Taoiseach's apology is sincere, the State must also stop denying justice to other families, including those who have waited 45 years for justice for those who died at Whiddy. I understand the families have requested a meeting with the Taoiseach and fresh inquests. He should agree to the former and the State should grant the latter.

I will finish my remarks by saluting the men and women in the Gallery. This is your day, though of course you should never have had to go through it.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I am privileged to be here to address you today. As a Member of this House, I am only four years elected. I would have been nine years old when the tragedy happened. I cannot pretend to remember but I have felt everything that has been said through the inquest in the last number of days, as well as every name I have heard and every family that has been remembered, particularly those who are no longer here but also those whose lives changed forever, not just those lost in the Stardust tragedy.

Many of you have fought for 43 years, a fight you did not want to fight. There is no denying you were put through that by the State, but the State is just another name for everybody who enters this House. We are elected representatives and we are elected by the people. This is known as Leinster House. It is otherwise known as the people's House. All too often, we forget who puts us here. For me, it has nothing to do with class, nor should it, but given what you have been through for 43 years and the evidence we have heard, it does appear to have had something to do with class. A life is a life and whether it is 48 young people who died through no fault of their own or many others we have heard of over the decades, the State can and must do better, and that includes me.

I have not had interaction with any of you except for Antoinette Keegan, who wrote to me in 2022 and asked me to make a donation to the Stardust fund. I made a paltry donation and I am ashamed of how paltry it was. All I can say is I have learned more in the past week about how we should serve the people who elect us than over the four years I have been here. I struggle sometimes with what we are elected to do because it is very difficult to make the right decisions.

I sit on the Opposition benches and have huge admiration for the people who have told their story and had the resolve for 43 years. I also have admiration for the Taoiseach. In his short time since being elected, he has reversed the poor decisions that have put you through that for 43 years and has made the decision to admit we were wrong. I am sure it is no consolation but it begins another fight and that fight is to understand whether or not what you have heard today is sincere and will turn out to be true to form. I look forward to a day when we will look back and celebrate what we have learned through the awful tragedy of the Stardust. That will come, no doubt, in the form of a commemoration in which, probably once a year, those in our privileged position will be invited to attend a commemoration ceremony while you live with it every day for the rest of your lives.

I ask the Taoiseach on behalf of those who are left here and those who have put in 43 years of hard fighting and hard slog, lost loved ones, failed on days to keep up the fight but got resolve from somewhere, that we do not put them through it when we decide on what the redress should be. Not only should they be part of it, they should not even be asked to fight for it. Money will not compensate anybody but it is how we decided previously. We have been wrong in this House and have not been listened to. I do not wish to take from anything that might happen or any of what you feel today but we have redress schemes that have left people out. Our most recent did not encompass children under the age of six months who had gone through mother and baby homes. I only in the past week listened to Christine Buckley's interviews. We should be ashamed and should not repeat that mistake.

I do not need to go any further. I have huge admiration for the people who have come here today. I will try to do better as an elected representative.

Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent)
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On the night of 14 February 1981, many parents' worst nightmare came true. Forty-eight young people in the prime of their lives went out to the Stardust nightclub in Artane to celebrate St. Valentine's Day but never came home. Witnesses spoke of fire exits being locked and chained, which was denied by management. There were two inquests, one tribunal of inquiry, a compensation tribunal and a number of investigations and reports, as well as countless hours spent campaigning. The families of those 48 young people who died in the nightclub fire have fought for more than four decades to get justice. Within these inquiries, the families had to relive the hauntingly traumatic and detailed injuries and causes of death of their loved ones. There was a chain around their neck and they were not able to move forward. They were left with no closure and no definitive ruling on the fire’s cause, and they rightly felt deep anger and hurt over their treatment by the State. Thankfully, after 43 years, this week a verdict of unlawful killing was returned by the jury for all 48 people who died in the disaster.

I am acutely aware that the number affected by the Stardust tragedy is far and wide. They have carried with them for 43 years the devastation the tragedy caused to a local community and to Ireland as a whole, to the survivors who bravely relived that traumatic experience by speaking their truth in their harrowing testimonies and to the first responders who found unimaginable carnage, heaps of bodies and body parts. A fleet of ambulances and taxis took the dead and dying to several Dublin hospitals, which were in danger of becoming overwhelmed by casualties. It was a mass death of innocents, exacerbated by an exhausting battle for answers by those left behind.

Lax fire laws under which the nightclub was inspected in 1980 were drawn up under an Act of 1890. There is no denying that the persistent failure of successive governments to deal with outdated legislation in relation to fire safety in buildings to which the public had access, notably discos, hotels, pubs and nightclubs, led to the tragedy. The outdated legislation applicable at the time did not place the responsibility on the owners of these places.

As a result fire exit doors could be obstructed and windows barred for security reasons. In addition, far too few personnel in the fire services or the local authorities were fully qualified to carry out thorough inspections of the buildings to ensure fire safety requirements were carried out. The safety regulations then in force had not been amended to take account of a new range of plastic products such as polystyrene and their hazardous potential.

The hands-off approach was driven by the ideology that property is a private matter, even though public safety is clearly a public matter. Even now we only have to look at how issues around mica and pyrite have fallen back under the public purse. These regulatory failures were repeated time after time and there was no accountability, only loss. We have a very weak system of control but we should have good standards and proper enforcement. This needs to change immediately. The Government needs to first look at existing regulations in relation to safety and accountability. A working group that examined defects in housing in 2022 found a lack of fire safety material, structural defects and water ingress are likely to affect up to 80% of apartments and duplexes built between 1991 and 2013 in the Celtic tiger era. This equates to between 62,500 and 100,000 homes. The problem is that fire certs are being approved and granted to developers based on submitted plans. No further inspection or follow-up is carried out to ensure compliance with plans. Defective construction work is a breach of building contracts, yet developers commonly claim liquidation and set up new companies with no accountability. The current legislation on redress schemes such as the pyrite resolution board should also be amended to advance redress more rapidly.

Today, however, the Government needs to provide a genuine, meaningful and unequivocal State apology to the families of victims and survivors of the Stardust tragedy. Perhaps seeing justice being done would help a little and let the victims rest in peace at last, but it has been a long time coming. As a parent and as a grandparent I extend my enormous gratitude to the families, the friends and all the people involved for getting us here today.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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I want to say to the family representatives here today that while I am very glad they are here, I am so sad they have to be here. Today finds us at the culmination of a lifetime of a battle. In time, it is really more than a lifetime of battle. The Stardust fire disaster has been a long-standing symbol of injustice in our country. The families of the victims have been let down by successive governments, the State and the legal system. I am glad they have received a State apology here today. Now is the time to establish a victims' and families' compensation scheme. While no amount of compensation can ever bring back the loved ones lost in the Stardust fire, it is crucial to acknowledge that a compensation scheme serves a different purpose. It is not a solution to the pain of loss but rather a proper recognition of the State's neglect and failure to protect its citizens. The establishment of a compensation scheme free from obstacles is a necessary step towards justice. It acknowledges the time the families have lost and the struggle they have endured in their quest for justice. This scheme should not be seen as a mere financial settlement but as a symbol of the State's commitment to righting the wrongs of the past. Moreover, this compensation scheme should serve as a reminder of the State's responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of its citizens and to prevent such tragedies from happening in the future. It is a testament to the resilience of the families, their unwavering pursuit of truth, and their fight for justice. It is a call for accountability, a demand for justice and a pledge for a safer future. It is a promise that the lives lost in the Stardust fire will never, ever be forgotten and that their legacy will continue to inspire change and foster resilience in the face of adversity.

For years the families of the victims carried the very heavy burden of seeking justice for their loved ones. The verdict of unlawful killing finally brought some relief. This verdict, announced by the jury at the inquests of the 48 young people who tragically lost their lives in the 1981 nightclub fire, was indeed met throughout the country and not least of all by the families with a mix of emotions. The inquests, which were the longest ever held in Ireland, were ordered after the families fought a lengthy legal battle.

It was a stark contrast to the original inquest held in 1982, which only lasted a mere five days and focused on the medical cause of the deaths rather than on the actual circumstances leading to the fire. The fire that occurred in the nightclub complex in Artane in Dublin led to the Keane tribunal of inquiry in 1982. The tribunal's strange and deeply cynical conclusion that the fire was probably caused deliberately was strongly opposed by the Stardust families. This conclusion allowed the nightclub owners to claim compensation from Dublin Corporation, which added massive insult to injury.

Thankfully, the Dáil overturned the arson findings in 2009, but this was only a very partial victory for the families. They needed the full facts of what happened on that night on St. Valentine's Day to be brought to light. Now the truth has been revealed. The fire started due to an electrical fault and was first seen between 1.20 a.m and 1.40 a.m. The jury found that the foam used in the seats, the carpets, the tiles and the height of the ceiling contributed to the spread of the blaze. Factors such as a lack of visibility due to black smoke, the toxicity of the gases and smoke, the heat, the failure of the emergency lighting, and the doors that were locked, chained or obstructed not only prevented escape but also contributed to the massive death toll. The families who have been persistent in overcoming the obstacles placed before them rightfully deserved the State apology here today. The Stardust fire disaster is probably one of the greatest injustices in our country's history. It is disgraceful how it was quickly swept under the rug all those years ago, especially when those who were left behind were still in a state of severe shock.

Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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I express my deepest sympathy to the families of the Stardust victims. The pain and loss they have endured is unimaginable. I acknowledge the unwavering determination and dedication displayed by the families in their pursuit of truth and justice. Their resilience in the face of adversity is truly commendable. It is important to recognise that the journey to this point has been long and arduous for the victims and their families. It is my sincere hope this acknowledgement brings some measure of solace to those affected by this tragedy.

The Stardust fire disaster is one of the greatest injustices in our country's history. It is a story of relentless pursuit of truth, profound commitment to justice, and a heartbreaking tragedy. The inquests into the disaster were the longest ever held in Ireland, after the families fought a lengthy legal battle. These inquests contrasted starkly with the original one held in 1982, which lasted only five days and focused merely on the medical cause of deaths rather then on the circumstances leading to the fire.

The fire that occurred at the nightclub complex in Artane in Dublin led to an inquiry, the Keane tribunal in 1982. The tribunal's conclusion that the fire was probably caused deliberately was strongly opposed by the Stardust families. This conclusion was deeply cynical and strange and allowed the nightclub owners to claim compensation from Dublin Corporation, adding insult to injury. The tribunal of inquiry that convened within three weeks of the fire found that the probable cause was arson. This outraged the families who said it smeared the dead and allowed the nightclub manager, Eamon Butterly, to claim £580,000 in compensation for malicious damage. This infuriated survivors and relatives of the dead who saw it as victim blaming.

The coroner, Dr. Myra Cullinane, has acknowledged the families' persistence in obtaining the fresh inquests. She hopes the families took some solace from the fact these fresh inquests were held, that the facts surrounding the deaths were examined in detail, and that the families felt fully involved in the proceedings. The inquests findings were a result of tireless campaigning by the families with no thanks to any government. Last Thursday represented a day of vindication.

In 2009, the Dáil overturned the arson findings but this was only a partial victory for the families. They needed the full facts about what happened on that fateful Valentine's Day to be brought to light. Now the truth has been revealed. The fire started due to an electrical fault and was first seen between 1.20 a.m. and 1.40 a.m. The jury found that the foam used in the seats, the use of carpet tiles and the height of the ceilings contributed to the spread of the blaze. The lack of visibility due to black smoke, the toxicity of the gases, the heat of the smoke, the failure of emergency lighting and the fact that emergency exits were locked, chained or obstructed prevented escape and contributed to the death toll.

The families, who have been persistent in overcoming the obstacles placed before them, deserve today's State apology. It is disgraceful how this disaster was quickly swept under the rug, particularly when those left behind were still in shock. Last week, the truth about the events of Valentine's night in 1981 came to light. The inquest jury found that 48 young people were unlawfully killed after an electrical fault started a fire in the Stardust nightclub. The fire killed 48 people aged 16 to 27, injured 214 and left questions over how it started and why it claimed so many victims. As the families are aware, previous efforts, including a tribunal of inquiry, a victim compensation tribunal and two legislatively appointed reviews, were rushed or botched, reflecting official indifference to working-class communities. Successive governments over four decades failed the families and the victims. It is a day of honour but also a day of deep sadness, hurt and regret. We must think in particular of those whose passing means this conclusion comes to late for them.

If the State's apology to the Stardust families and the victims is based on a moral code as opposed to empty political rhetoric, the Taoiseach should on behalf of this State meet the Whiddy Island families as a matter of urgency. During that meeting, he must deliver the news that fresh inquests have been ordered by his Attorney General as these families seek justice for the fireball explosion that claimed the lives of 50 innocent people off Bantry in 1979. The State must also urgently review the manner in which inquests are being conducted in the State and the verdicts available to juries. The Stardust tragedy was one of the darkest moments in our history. It was a heart-breaking tragedy because of the lives that were lost, the families that were changed forever and the long-drawn-out struggle for justice that followed. Their relentless pursuit of truth and accountability and their profound commitment to justice, in the face of overwhelming challenges and setbacks, was not only a fight for their loved ones but a campaign to ensure that such a disaster never happens again. It is time for the State to step up and make amends.

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
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I offer my deepest sympathies to the families here today for the loss of their children, sisters, brothers and relations on 14 February 1981 - a night of love. I was 11 years old then. I am now a father of four children, all of whom are the ages of those who died in the Stardust fire. I am now a grandfather. It has taken 43 years for the Government to say sorry. It has taken 43 years for all these families who have fought for justice for their loved ones to see this day. As a parent, I cannot comprehend what any one of these people has gone through. No apology from me or anyone in this Chamber will make up for the years of loss, but saying "I got it wrong; I'm sorry" will give people peace of mind so they can move on and say they have vindicated their families. They now know what happened. This is a failure on the part of a lot of people throughout all these years.

The saddest thing about this is that it continues. The families here today fought for their loved ones and waited for the Government to say sorry. It is now in the history books as a milestone for this country that these families fought to ensure they got the proper apology. People are dying in hospitals in this country on a daily basis but nobody will stand up and say sorry. I am sorry to have to mention today that a young girl named Jessica Sheedy - I have permission to mention her name - died after she went into University Hospital Limerick for a minor operation over three years ago. The inquest into her death is still ongoing, even though all the information has been given three or four times over, because somebody will not stand up and say "I'm sorry". How many more inquests are going on around this country because people will not stand up and say "we got it wrong; we're sorry"? Instead of fixing this aspect of the system to protect children and families as we go forward, we tie it up in litigation and legal battles and we protect and deflect blame from the people who are responsible.

If we learn anything from today - from all these families - it should be that it is time to stop this. We must not let another 43 years go by before a government has to say sorry to somebody else. I wish to put it on the record today that a government will end up saying sorry to the people in UHL and other hospitals for introducing a centre of excellence with a rising population, for cancelling elective surgeries in other hospitals and for putting people in the area at risk. People have died trying to get to the hospital. They did not even get there. A government will eventually have to apologise for that but members of this Government will have reached retirement age and will leave it to somebody else. Fix it now, say sorry now, make people accountable now, fix the mistakes to protect the children and families of the future and accept the liability that is there. Let us learn from it. Again, I thank and applaud the families for continuing the fight because now they might put down a marker for the things that are going on in inquests today. We will see in the history books that a government will end up saying sorry for that too.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I welcome the families in the Gallery, some of whom I met outside and on the street. I met people from my constituency - Alison and Heather. Her mother was unable to come today. They are weary and tired from fighting for justice for so long. I salute them.

The disaster has been a long-standing symbol of injustice in our country and not the only one. Some of the 48 people who lost their lives in the Stardust were just teenagers. The youngest victim was only 16 while the oldest was 27. The families of the victims have been let down by successive governments, by the State and by the legal system. Although it is time for the State to apologise and establish a victims' and families' compensation scheme, it is crucial to acknowledge that no amount of compensation will ever bring back their loved ones who were lost in the Stardust. A compensation scheme serves a different purpose. It is not a solution to the pain and grief caused by loss but is a tangible recognition of the State's neglect of and failure to protect its citizens. This is happening all over this country. The establishment of a compensation scheme free from obstacles is a necessary step towards justice. It acknowledges the time the families have lost, their angst and the struggle they have endured in their quest for justice. The scheme should not be seen as a mere financial settlement but as a symbol of the State's commitment to righting the wrongs of the past, which are many and awful. Moreover, this compensation scheme should serve as a reminder of the State's responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of its citizens and to prevent such tragedies from happening in the future. It is a testament to the resilience of the families, their unwavering pursuit of truth and their right to justice. It also calls for accountability, justice and a pledge for a safer future.

It is a promise that lives lost in the Stardust will never be forgotten and that the legacy will continue to inspire change and foster resilience in the face of adversity.

I compliment and salute the coroner, Dr. Cullinane, as well as those in the Dublin Fire Brigade, who were famous at the time and still are to this day. I salute them on the work they do but the Government will not pay them, recognise them or give them proper treatment and respect. The fire officers took severe actions at the time to ensure the safety of all of our public buildings, nightclubs, public houses and so on.

For years, the families were looking for a judgment and the verdict of unlawful killing finally brought some relief. The verdict announced by the jury at the inquest for the 48 young people who tragically lost their lives in the 1981 nightclub fire was met with a mix of emotions. It is so sad. I was in Dublin that night as a young man. I was at the Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis and I was staying in a hotel. We were terrified, frightened and horrified at what happened. I remember the apology and the closing down of the Ard-Fheis the morning after.

We can never imagine or walk in the shoes of the families who are here today. However, there are many more families walking in their shoes today, and I can imagine why. There is Fr. Niall Molloy, who was brutally killed at a wedding in Offaly. Fr. Molloy had Tipperary relations. There is the Whiddy Island disaster, where 50 people lost their lives. There are John O'Brien and Pat Esmonde of Tipperary, who were literally murdered off the coast of Helvick ten years ago, with no investigation. It is cover-up after cover-up. I will mention Shane O'Farrell, that young cyclist who was mowed down unceremoniously on the road while out for a cycle. I salute his mother, Lucia, for the effort she is making to get justice.

What is wrong with our system? We founded a State. Our forefathers fought and gave their lives in the GPO and all over the world and got our freedom and our new State. However, we inherited a system from the English to cover everything up, with nothing to see here. Our people are being denied justice, day in, day out. There was the unlawful killing of the young Rossiter boy in Clonmel Garda station. Again, it was covered up. The wrongdoing is going on, day in, day out, to this very moment. It is probably happening to many families with Tusla at the moment, given what is happening with young children in the care of the State going missing.

In the name of God and his Blessed Mother and the dead generations, I appeal to the Government, if it is ever going to find any moral compass, to stop this rot that is there. We have a Minister for Justice who will not even go to the Garda conference. The Commissioner was not even asked, nor should he be. I do not blame them for that as they have no confidence in him. Will you stop the rot? Stop trying to destroy our very culture, our fabric, our being, and infiltrating our country and overrunning it with migrants from God knows where. Look after the people who need to be looked after and have respect for your duty under the Constitution to serve the people. Serve the Irish people, not self-serving. Why did that businessman-----

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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The Deputy’s time is up.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I question the previous judge, Mr. Keane. Who appointed him? Can we find that out? I know who appointed him. I know who his friends were. That is what is going on to this day. The judges are appointed and there is cover-up after cover-up. Shame on the major political parties that continue the farce.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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I want to start by quoting the headline of the article by Kitty Holland on "The full story of the Stardust fire", which is, "Jesus Christ, the doors are locked". That is what the survivors from the Stardust fire have been saying for more than 40 years. They were not believed. They were ignored and, as Antoinette Keegan has said, they have been systematically abused by the Irish establishment for the past 43 years.

I welcome to the Visitors Gallery all the families of those who lost loved ones. I welcome all those injured in the fire who carry the physical and mental pain of that night 43 years ago. I am glad the families and the parents have fought for so long and hard and never gave up. They have campaigned for truth and justice. They are here today having earned the rightful verdict of unlawful killing and this apology from the State so we can remember those who have passed in the last 43 years. I salute you. This is the day to remember the 48 who died, the up to 200 injured and the more than 600 who escaped with their lives, as well as the workers in the Stardust, the emergency service workers and the taxi men who drove people from the Stardust to hospitals. They have carried the horrific memories of that night and it is time they were vindicated.

I am very proud of this community where I come from. I, my brothers and my friends practically lived in the Stardust after it opened in 1978. It was the place to go and all the working-class kids in the area were there as often as possible. My brother, Desmond Collins, who was 17 years of age, was in the Stardust that night. I have never publicly stated this as he has been very private about his experience, and only on the anniversary every year would he ring up to say, “It’s that time of year again.” I have spoken to him since the inquest verdict and he opened up a bit about that night. He said that he and his pals were sitting in front of Paul Wade. Paul was our neighbour from across the road. Paul died that night and was only identified in 2007. In his pen portrait at the inquest, his brother Tony's son, Emmet, read the portrait of Paul. Tony was in the Stardust that night as well but survived. The family, like every other family, were devastated. Their mam and dad never recovered. Des recounted the terror and chaos in the venue, the people clambering over the seats and other people trying to get out - the darkness, the heat, the horror. He said he remembered the barman who eventually got the fire exit next to the bar near the stage open, and that was the exit that he got out by – exit 4. After the verdict last week, he said a weight had been taken off his shoulders. However, what happened in the past 43 years should never have happened.

All the victims need to be remembered and apologised to today, as well as the community that had to live with the Keane tribunal of inquiry verdict, that the most probable cause was arson, until 2009, 28 years later. This was a class issue. I felt it and the community felt it. I do not believe it would have taken 43 years to reach a verdict of unlawful killing if it had happened in a more affluent area.

I want to say to the families and campaigners that they are a beacon of light to all those campaigners who are seeking truth and justice. I say to the Taoiseach that anything done on this issue must be done hand in hand with the families and survivors.

I want to read a piece sent to me by Tommy Broughan, who was a TD for the community for 28 years and worked tirelessly to support and fight for the victims and their families:

February 14th,1981 - 48 dead, 214 injured (over 80 seriously) out of 840 Stardust patrons ... Deep anguish and grief of Coolock and the whole Northside was hugely exacerbated by the conclusion of the Keane Tribunal Report in 1982. While most of the conclusion indicated that the cause of the fire would 'never be known', the Keane Report suddenly ended by saying the fire was most probably caused by arson. A terrible slur was thus cast on the 48 young victims and the other Stardust.

In the aftermath, the traumatised families, led by John and Chrissie Keegan, formed the Stardust Victims Committee. After John's sad and untimely death, Chrissie and her brilliant daughter, Antoinette, Gertie Barrett, Brid McDermott, Eugene Kelly, Willie Mulvey and Jimmy Dunne were among the small core group which valiantly carried on this decades-long struggle. Their campaign for a small redress scheme was successful but was dwarfed by the £580,000-plus awarded to the Stardust owner based on Keane's totally erroneous final conclusion that the probable cause was arson.

Patrick Butterly wrote in his memoir, From Radishes to Riches, that the Butterlys were all Fianna Fáilers. He was a member of the party’s fundraising machine, Taca, in the 1970s and 1980s. He said that what you had these people for was to get things done. If you wanted someone who could do something, you asked them. This was not lost on the people in our community.

From 1986 to 1993, the Stardust Victims Committee, supported by Tommy Broughan, then a councillor, led a long struggle to force the then Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, to grant Dublin Corporation £500,000 to build the beautiful Stardust Memorial Park in Bonnybrook, the central Coolock parish. Over the next decade or more, Tommy Broughan constantly raised the issue of establishing a new tribunal of inquiry to revisit the work and conclusions of the Keane report. His parliamentary questions and Adjournment debates were underpinned by the work of a number of outstanding Irish journalists. In 2001, two brilliant young Northside People journalists, Tony McCullagh and Neil Fetherstonhaugh, published a seminal book on the Stardust tragedy, They Never Came Home - The Stardust Story. This was the first study to directly challenge Keane and focus on the grossly deficient electrical fittings of the Stardust.

The first decade of this century was a long struggle led by Chrissie and Antoinette Keegan to revisit Keane and finally correct the appalling conclusion of that report. A local northside scientist, Ms. Geraldine Foy, did important work to try to locate the true cause of the fire and a report, entitled Nothing But the Truth, was submitted to then Minister for Justice, now Senator Michael McDowell, in 2006. Finally, Mr. Paul Coffey, now Mr. Justice Coffey, was appointed by the Ahern Government to carry out a review of new evidence on the Stardust. The subsequent 2009 Coffey report demolished the conclusion of the Keane report, which Coffey said was simply a hypothesis and totally exonerated the 48 young victims and the other Stardust attendees. The Dáil then passed a legal adjustment to the Keane report and the then Deputy Broughan read the 48 names of the Stardust victims into the Dáil record.

Remarkably, in an earlier, unpublished draft of this report, Mr. Justice Coffey indicated that a new tribunal was the best way forward. However, this was quashed by the Cowen Fianna Fáil Government. In the 2011 general election, Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore gave commitments to re-establish a tribunal of enquiry, but these commitments were cruelly broken by the subsequent austerity Governments up to 2020. In 2014, the current Tánaiste, Deputy Micheál Martin, committed to a new tribunal. However, despite his full support for the Governments led by Enda Kenny and Deputy Varadkar, he also refused to insist on a new tribunal.

On every anniversary of the Stardust tragedy up to 2019, Deputy Broughan organised a Dáil debate in support of the Stardust Victims and Relatives Committee for a new tribunal or commission of investigation under the 2004 Act. This culminated with a motion in January 2017 calling for such a commission. This was defeated by 94 votes to 50, with Fine Gael, including the Taoiseach, those in Fianna Fáil and then Minister of State Finian McGrath, of Dublin Bay North, voting against. The then Deputy Broughan immediately called for the reopening of the Stardust inquest as the best alternative to a new commission of investigation. He contacted the Senior Dublin City Coroner, Dr. Myra Cullinane, in October 2016 and asked that the 1981 inquest be reopened. She replied in 2017 that she had no jurisdiction to reopen the earlier inquest by the then city coroner Professor Patrick Bofin. Mr. Broughan then reminded the coroner of the reopening of the inquest into the victims of the Hillsborough tragedy in the UK and of the fact that there was no cause of death given on the death certificates of the 48 tragic victims of the Stardust.

Later in 2017, the minority Government under Deputy Varadkar appointed the former Deputy for Dublin North East and retired judge Pat McCartan to carry out a review of new evidence unearthed by the Stardust committee, journalists and fire experts to see if a commission of investigation or a reopened inquest would be justified. Mr. Justice McCartan decided that they would not be justified, and former Deputy Broughan commented that the judge had made a clear mistake by ignoring developments made over in the forensic science of investigating fires the previous four decades.

In 2018, Mr. Broughan moved a motion again calling for the reopening of the Stardust inquest. In 2018 and 2019, the Stardust committee led an historic and massive nationwide campaign. Among other things, this involved collecting almost 50,000 signatures of support from citizens to reopen the inquest. Finally, the then Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, asked the then Attorney General Séamus Woulfe to review the issue. In September 2019, the Attorney General finally agreed to ask the city coroner to reopen the Stardust inquest.

Tommy Broughan has stated that the verdict of unlawful killing delivered by the Stardust inquest jury last week was widely anticipated by those who attended the inquest at the Rotunda Hospital or followed it on Zoom. I thank the city coroner for the very sensitive and legally rigorous conduct of the inquest. All those who called for justice for the 48 victims, the survivors and their families are also very grateful to solicitor Darragh Mackin of Phoenix Law and his team of barristers for their presentation of the Stardust families' case at the inquest. We also remember the support of Charlie Bird and the great musician Christy Moore, fire expert Tony Gillick, Professor Michael Delichatsios of the University of Ulster and Paul Giblin of the Grenfell fire tragedy campaigners. Dr. Will Hutchinson, a fire expert, who gave the key forensic evidence to the inquest must also be greatly commended. Most of all, this afternoon we salute Antoinette, her late Mam, Chrissie, her Dad, John, Gertie and Bríd who are the heroes of 43 years of desperate struggle. Their total vindication in the inquest jury's verdict is a huge contribution to Irish democracy and an inspiration to all other groups fighting for social justice in this country.

It is clearly incumbent on An Garda Síochána to urgently investigate and re-examine the performance of the owner and operator of the Stardust nightclub in light of the evidence heard at the second Stardust inquest. It seems clear that a file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP. The performance of the planning, fire safety and building regulator, namely Dublin City Council, must also face deep scrutiny by an Garda Síochána and the DPP. The enduring grief of their loss will never abate in Coolock, but at least now they may truly rest in peace.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I think I am the final contributor. The Taoiseach gave a fulsome address and apology, which is to be welcomed. However, this apology will only be meaningful if it determines the next steps and if it examines how we got into this position. The Taoiseach has talked about how the institutions of the State let the people down. They did a lot more than that; they actively contrived to prevent the truth coming out. They actively contrived against the families who are here today in their quest to get the truth. The State and its institutions actively participated in a narrative that sought to defame those families. It is a great deal more than the institutions letting us down. The Taoiseach paid tribute, and rightly so, to the three women who sat in the cold hut outside Government Buildings 15 years ago and who are here with us today, namely Gertrude Barrett, Antoinette Keegan and Brigid McDermott. What the Taoiseach failed to do was outline the reason as to why they were sitting out in the cold. They were doing so for something as basic as getting a copy of the Coffey report. It must be remembered that this report came only after the Government of the day set up a non-statutory inquiry and John Gallagher SC had to resign because he had already represented the Garda Síochána.

We are here today because of the absolute courage and determination of the families who are here and of those who cannot be here. It is a humbling experience. It must be very uncomfortable for the families to sit through all of this, but it should be much more uncomfortable for us. This apology for the pain, death and suffering, the addictions and suicides that followed on from an absolutely appalling misuse of power has had to be extracted from the Government. What we are talking about here is the famous class divide in Ireland that is never spoken about. Quite clearly, that is what happened in this case. From day one, a narrative was determined because the powerful were in charge. The powerful have remained in charge and the narrative remained the same until today. Now, it has been lifted off and the Taoiseach has had to stand here and tell people they are innocent. They knew that from day one., but the powerful, through the institutions of the State, told them differently.

Let us have a quick, brief look at how we got here. We go back to 1981 and that dreadful night. The word "tragedy" is used and it was certainly a tragedy, but there was also absolutely no justice from day one. We start with the tragedy in the early hours of St. Valentine's Day. Then we had a tribunal headed by the former Mr. Justice Ronan Keane. It's 682-page report was issued in June of 1982. Quite a lot of what is contained in that report was damning of the owners of the Stardust and various institutions, including the local authority. However, Mr. Justice Keane came to a conclusion that was utterly not based on what he said. Some of the paragraphs in the report contradict previous paragraphs. In light of the evidence that was before him, he stated that the fire was probable arson. That presents a serious problem. Our job is to look back and ask "How in God's name did that happen?" After outlining all of the faults he found, Mr. Justice Keane was critical of the executive directors and of the safety measures in place. He stated:

Mr Eamon Butterly ... bears a ... responsibility for the practice of keeping the emergency exits secured with chains and padlocks ... a recklessly dangerous practice which regularly endangered the lives of over one thousand people ...

These were the strong conclusions of Ronan Keane, who was a High Court judge at the time. He went on to state that the cause of the fire was probable arson. How could that happen?

We go forward in time. What happens next? That tribunal was coexistent with the very faulty inquests that were held at the time for a few days. Those inquests did not consider at the wider circumstances; they just provided the medical cause of death of the victims.

We go forward again to Mr. Butterly and his family. In 1985 he gets more than £500,000 in compensation for malicious damage. We have Mr. Justice Sean O'Hanrahan concluding that the Stardust fire was started maliciously. Here is another judge backing up the narrative.

Then we go forward to the compensation tribunal in 1985, which was another insult to the families. We have Mr. Justice Donal Barrington, a much respected judge, and we have all the applications. However, there is no appeal against the findings of that tribunal except in the context of very specific points of law.

What is interesting about this is that we were told that we cannot compensate people for mental upset. Can you imagine that? Imagine going through all of this only to be told that by a judge. We then had John Keegan appealing the latter to the Supreme Court, and the narrative continued. On the day that the Supreme Court refused his appeal on the basis of whatever narrow grounds he took it, he died. Over and over again, this happened across the 43 years. I do not really have time to go into the details, but it is important to remember that it did not happen by accident.

We had Christy Moore's song, "They Never Came Home". As was mentioned previously, he was held in contempt by Mr. Justice Frank Murphy. He held that the song was in contempt of court and ruled that the lyrics of the song contained statements or comments calculated to prejudice a fair trial, but, apparently, the comments by the establishment in respect the people who, according to it, were telling lies did not prejudice anything or look down on anything. Here we had the powerful protecting the powerful.

There was a "Prime Time" programme in 2006, and a research dossier on behalf of the families by Geraldine Foy called "Nothing but the Truth - the case for a new public inquiry". Of course, that did not happen either. Then we had the Coffey report to which I referred to earlier. Bertie Ahern announced an external, independent examination. However, there was a conflict of interest, as I have pointed out, and there was the Coffey report. It has already been mentioned that the latter had to be revised. Mr. Coffey gave the Government an option. He said that if it did not take out the words "probable arson", there should be a full public inquiry. What did the Government do? It did not say that there was something seriously wrong and that we needed a public inquiry; it took out the words and left everything else intact. Then we go forward. Finally, thanks be to God, the public record was corrected. Then there was the McCartan report in 2017. McCartan added insult to injury. That report came on foot of the tremendous work of former Deputy Tommy Broughan. I pay tribute to him. He introduced me to the details of the Stardust fire when I became a TD in 2016. What does the former judge McCartan tell us? He states: "A dossier representing the case for a new enquiry was delivered to this Assessment". What does he tell us about it? He says it was "rambling, argumentative, disorganised and at times incoherent". He also stated that it was only at the end, on page 358, that there was any statement of what the new evidence was and that this was difficult to understand. This brings us up to 2017.

Then we go forward to 2019 and we have the very courageous solicitors at Phoenix Law. They go through the European Convention on Human Rights and Séamus Woulfe finally sees sense and says that there must be a new inquest. It took from 2019 to last week to get the verdict of unlawful death. What does that verdict say? It means that there has to be some accountability in the context of who is responsible for the unlawful deaths. There has to be something from the Government that recognises that in every report that I have seen in my limited time in the Dáil there is a self-serving narrative. We had the mother and baby homes report, which was left on the shelf for months. When it was finally released, people were told to download it. Then a scheme was set up where everybody who had been in a home for less than six months was excluded. The narrative persisted from the mother and baby homes report, but the evidence should have led to a different conclusion, just like report from Mr. Justice Ronan Keane. It led to a conclusion that the evidence from ordinary people was contaminated, not the evidence from the social workers, the priests or the judges. There is a narrative here that is the same as the narrative in relation to the Kerry babies tribunal. That tribunal was set up to investigate gardaí, but instead we got a narrative about Joanna Hayes and her family. They have received an apology and the survivors of the Stardust have received an apology, but the establishment has learned absolutely nothing. The powerful protect the powerful. What happened here was absolutely class distinction. If the Government does not face that and begin to learn from it, then we will have learned nothing.

I am indebted to the survivors for making me think and reflect. I am indebted to them for their courage.

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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That concludes statements of acknowledgement and apology to the families and victims of the Stardust tragedy. I thank you for being here today and commend your fortitude, determination and resilience over the past 43 years in doing something you should not have had to do and for seeing it through. I am just in awe. Thank you very much.