Nightclub fears – Safety rules must be enforced

After every public disaster there is inevitably an outcry and safety standards are tightened until complacency again sets in with the passage of time.

The Stardust disaster, in which 48 young people died in a nightclub fire in Artane, Dublin, in February 1981, was one of the worst disasters in the history of the State.

Very few of the people frequenting nightclubs today will remember what happened on that fateful night in Artane nearly a quarter of a century ago. In addition to the horror of the lives of so many young people snuffed out, there was the enduring agony of their families. Nobody was ever held responsible for the negligence involved, but the taxpayers were, as usual, saddled with the cost of what was essentially an inconclusive judicial tribunal.