A sombre gathering of about 200 people, including members of the Garda, Dublin Fire Brigade, the National Ambulance Service and the Defence Forces, took place at Dublin’s Stardust memorial, in Artane, on Saturday.
The gathering was to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the fire in which 48 young people lost their lives after a fire broke out at the north Dublin nightclub.
It heard the names of each of the victims read out by Claire Bird, wife of the late RTÉ journalist Charlie Bird, who reported widely on the campaign for justice by the families of the Stardust victims.
More than 800 people were attending a disco in the Stardust nightclub when the fire broke out in the early hours of February 14th, 1981. In addition to the 48 who died 214 were injured, some of them very seriously. In later years, a number of suicides among survivors and in the families of those who died were blamed on the tragedy.
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In April 2024, after a campaign lasting more than four decades, Dublin District Coroner’s Court returned a verdict of unlawful killing on all 48 victims who died, concluding that the blaze was caused by an electrical fault.
Antoinette Keegan, who survived the fire but whose sisters Mary and Martina died, thanked the emergency services and the families for their attendance at Saturday’s commemoration, which also included prayers led by Fr Paul O’Driscoll of St Joseph the Artisan Catholic Church in Coolock, north Dublin.
[ ‘Jesus Christ, the doors are locked’: The full story of the Stardust fireOpens in new window ]
Singer Eddie Sherlock sang the Stardust song They Never Came Home and wreaths were laid by representatives of the emergency services. A 48-second silence was followed by a short blast of Dublin Fire Brigade sirens.
Speaking after the ceremony, Keegan said she did not want to discuss ongoing difficulties the families had with the Government over compensation payments, or a Garda review of the files relating to the fire. She said: “Today is a day for the 48 victims and their families.”
Earlier on Saturday, however, four families of those who died in the fire and their supporters staged a protest outside Store Street Garda station.
Carole Barrett, whose brother Michael perished in the blaze, said it had been 667 days since the finding of unlawful killing by the coroner’s court and 660 days since the then Garda commissioner Drew Harris promised to review the files relating to the blaze.
In April, 2024 Harris said he had asked the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation to “revisit” two investigation files that were submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions, one from the early 1980s and another from 2016. He also promised to review the evidence presented to the Dublin city coroner.
But Barrett said the families were still awaiting developments.
At the Store Street protest Barrett was joined by members of the families of Eugene Hogan, Paula Byrne and Murtagh Kavanagh, who all lost their lives. “We are looking for accountability and justice for 45 years,” she said. Barrett said she had no issue with the Garda, but said she believed the Department of Justice could be moving more quickly on the case.
In response, gardai said its review was being “actively pursued” by the Serious Crime Review Team and the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
“The Garda review team continues to actively engage directly with families and legal representatives for the families,” it said in a statement.
“As the 45th anniversary of the fatal fire approaches, the thoughts of all in An Garda Síochána are with the families of the victims, as well as the survivors of the Stardust tragedy.”
