Minister warned of legal action over Stardust blaze

Members of the Stardust Victims Committee are meeting with the Department of Justice today to try to progress their long-running campaign for a fresh investigation into the fatal fire.

It comes as the sister of two young women who died in the blaze put Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald on two weeks’ notice that she intends applying to the High Court for leave to seek judicial review of the State’s handling of the case.

Ms Fitzgerald’s department has been examining documents submitted by the committee last month and has invited representatives to meet with one of her senior officials today.

Geraldine Foy, a researcher who has been working with the committee for the past decade, said the materials they would be discussing today documented “one of the biggest mistakes in the history of the State”.

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The 1981 fire at the Stardust nightclub in Artane, Dublin, claimed the lives of 48 people and injured more than 200.

Antoinette Keegan, who survived the fire but lost two of her sisters, said she was pleased today’s meeting was taking place but added that discussions with the department had run aground before and she was determined to press ahead with High Court proceedings if progress was not made.

Her notice to the minister claims the State has failed to carry out an effective investigation into the fire and has left on public record the full original tribunal report and 2009 review despite the inaccuracies.

She said yesterday: “The State failed to carry out a proper investigation into the fire and in failing that, it failed to uphold the rights of me and my sisters and all the other victims. They have the chance to do the right thing now. It’s not too late.”

A tribunal of inquiry had concluded the blaze was probably a case of arson, although the same tribunal also stated there was no such evidence. That finding was eventually removed from official record in 2009.

However, a review into aspects of the tribunal also stated the cause of the fire could not be established.

The families argue the review exceeded its terms of reference in coming to that conclusion. They also say they have determined the fire started with a faulty and overloaded electrical system. It was fuelled by the combustion of highly flammable materials in the adjacent storeroom and spread rapidly through open roof space above the storeroom, they claim.

One of the main flaws in the original tribunal was incorrect evidence provided of a basement area above which there was purportedly a ground-floor storeroom with a ceiling that sealed it off from the building’s roof space.

It emerged later there had been no basement but instead a first-floor storeroom that lay open to the roof space and was stocked with highly flammable cooking oils and cleaning chemicals.

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