Government under pressure to sanction new Stardust probe

THE Government is under renewed pressure to sanction a new Commission of Investigation into the 1981 Stardust tragedy.

Next month will mark the 36^th anniversary of the Artane nightclub fire, in which 48 young people lost their lives and hundreds were injured.

Independent TD Tommy Broughan has tabled a Dáil motion for later this week seeking support for a fresh Commission of Investigation into the cause of the fire. He said he wanted to bring closure for the affected families and communities in the form of a short, cost-effective investigation.

“It was the worst fire disaster in modern Irish history and continues to profoundly affect many families in several parishes of my constituency of Dublin Bay North,” Deputy Broughan said.

The motion will heap further pressure on the Government as a Commission of Investigation into the Stardust disaster is also favoured by Independent Minister of State, Finian McGrath. Deputy Broughan claims there is considerable support for his motion on the opposition benches.

In 1982, the original Tribunal of Inquiry into the Stardust tragedy concluded that arson was the most probable cause of the fire. However, in 2009, an independent inquiry by senior counsel Paul Coffey found that this was not the case and the record of the Dáil was corrected to reflect this.

However, the victims’ families and their supporters are still angry that no one has ever been held to account for the tragedy and have been campaigning for a new inquiry. The Stardust Victims’ Committee also claims to have uncovered new evidence that was not available to the original tribunal.