Stardust fire - A tragedy that could strike again

AFTER 25 long, heartbreaking years since the devastation of the terrible Stardust inferno, the families of the 48 people who perished in the blaze still do not know what caused it.

And, the reality is that what happened on that ill-fated St Valentine’s Night in 1981 could be revisited on other families, because were the atrocity to be repeated, our fire services simply could not cope.

That is the plain, unmitigated truth which successive governments have chosen to ignore, despite warnings from professionals in the service and advice from an expert review body appointed by the present Government two years ago.