Taoiseach set to issue state apology to families of Stardust victims in Dáil

Taoiseach Simon Harris will today deliver a formal State apology in the Dáil to the families of the victims, and survivors, of the Stardust fire.

Speaking this morning, Mr Harris said he has been engaging with the families over the past few days.

“I think these are families that have been failed for over four decades,” he said.

“They’re families who have looked for answers for over four decades, they’re families who all often have had these gates here shut to them and governments not listening to them.

“I have had really important, heartfelt and emotional engagement with many of the families over the last few days. I was very pleased to visit the Stardust Memorial in Artane last night, and I wanted to be there and to be at the spot of where this fire happened, in advance of delivering the apology today,”

It is expected that many of the families will watch from the Dáil public gallery as the apology is read out.

The Taoiseach is expected to deliver the apology during the course of a 20-minute speech from 2pm this afternoon.

Following the longest inquest in the history of the state, the jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing last Thursday afternoon.

The jury established that the fire started in the hot press of the club, and the cause of the fire was an electrical fault in the hot press.

The jury also established the carpet tiles on the ballroom walls contributed to the spread of the fire.

Exits were locked, chained or otherwise obstructed and victims of the fire were impeded in their ability to access exits and go through the exits.

Escape from the fire impeded by poor visibility because of the smoke, the lack of knowledge of the building’s layout, the toxicity of the smoke and/or gases, the heat of the fire, the speed of its spread, the failure of an emergency lighting system; and the lack of staff preparedness.