Stardust inquests: Unlawful killing verdict will give dignity back to victims, jury told

The fresh inquests into the deaths of the 48 people in the Stardust were ordered, after a long campaign from families, because the Attorney General ruled there had been an “insufficiency of inquiry” as to how their deaths had occurred at the original inquests. File photo: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos

A jury has been urged to return a verdict of unlawful killing for the 48 people who died in the Stardust fire disaster of 1981, after hearing the north Dublin nightclub was turned into a “fortress” beforehand and the evidence of its manager was “shredded beyond redemption”.

Michael O’Higgins SC, representing some of the families of victims, said there was a “huge conflict” between the evidence of Stardust manager Eamon Butterly at the inquests regarding the state of the exit doors on the night and those of the patrons who described desperately trying to escape the club while it was ablaze.