Long-awaited Stardust inquest finally to get under way in September

Candlelit vigil for the 41st anniversary of the Stardust fire at the former nightclub in Artane on February 13 last. Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins 

The long-awaited fresh inquests into the deaths of 48 people in the Stardust fire could finally get underway in September.

A pre-inquest hearing on Wednesday heard that once the final hurdles, of a judicial review taken by the owner of the Dublin venue and the establishment of a mechanism to allow jurors be selected, are cleared, then the coroner will be ready to begin.

Dublin city coroner Dr Myra Cullinane said: “When these matters are resolved, I’m in a position to commence these inquests.” 

The pre-inquest hearing also heard that, since this process has begun, nine family members of victims of the fire have passed away.

Darragh Mackin, solicitor for the families, welcomed the proposed September date and said “time was of the essence” for families that have waited so long to reach this point.

In the early hours of Valentine’s Day 1981, a fire quickly swept through the Stardust club in north Dublin. Most of those in attendance were young people who had come for a disco dancing competition. The fire left 48 dead and hundreds wounded.

In September 2019, after more than a decade of sustained campaigning for fresh inquiries into the disaster, the attorney general ordered fresh inquests into the 48 deaths. He said there had been an “insufficiency of inquiry” as to how their deaths had occurred.

However, Ms Cullinane said she would not be able to proceed with the inquests until the High Court judicial review taken by Eamon Butterly, the man who ran the Stardust at the time of the fire, was concluded.

Mr Butterly’s proceedings are aimed at preventing the inquest into the disaster from making him a target for a verdict of unlawful killing.

He claims the new hearing could wrongfully make him a target for a verdict of unlawful killing. Numerous affidavits have been filed in this case, and it is next due for mention on May 17.

Matters pertaining to the inquest were raised in the Seanad on Tuesday by Sinn Féin senator Lynn Boylan.

Ms Boylan said she was worried that a bill she tabled in February that would allow a jury to be selected for the inquests in a manner similar to how they are selected for criminal proceedings had not yet been advanced by Government.

“I am concerned that we have very few sitting days left before the summer break to get legislation through both houses and to have it in place when the inquest starts,” she said. 

“We are not back here until the autumn and the lease on the Pillar Room runs out in February 2023. We are running out of time.” 

Justice Minister Helen McEntee is understood to be considering the matter and has been in consultation with the Attorney General on making the necessary arrangements for the Stardust inquests to proceed.

At the pre-inquest hearing, Ms Cullinane said this was another outstanding issue but she had had no correspondence related to it. Once it is resolved, along with the judicial review, she indicated she is ready to proceed.

“It is one of the issues that one would hope would be brought to finality in order to move on,” she said. “As I say, I’m certainly prepared to start as soon as September.”