Five Stardust victims to be exhumed and identified

The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has confirmed that the five bodies of the unidentified Stardust victims will be exhumed and formally identified.

Mr Ahern sent a letter to the Stardust Victims Committee confirming that the Department of Justice will cover the costs of the exhumation, private funerals and reburials.

It is hoped that the coroner could order the exhumations at a formal hearing before Christmas.

Once the exhumations have been carried out, the bodies will either be re-interred immediately or held until tests are carried out in the UK.

It is hoped that the bodies can be identified before the 26th anniversary in February.