Stardust group threatens case over report

Wednesday, 14 January 2009 15:00
Members of the Stardust Victims Committee say they will take their case to the European courts if they do not get information contained in a report on a possible public inquiry into the tragedy.

Representatives from the group are meeting with officials at Government Buildings in Dublin.

They are angry that a report on whether a fresh inquiry into the tragedy should be held has not been made available to them.

AdvertisementOn Friday 13 February 1981, 48 young people died after the Stardust nightclub in Artane in Dublin was destroyed by fire.

Since then relatives and victims have been campaigning to establish a public inquiry into the tragedy.

Last year an examination into whether a new public inquiry should be launched took place; computer simulations and witness evidence were examined.

Several weeks ago Paul Coffey, who chaired the hearings, gave his report to Government.

But despite the fact the report has been seen by members of Government and officials, the families remain in the dark.

Speaking this afternoon going into Government Buildings, the committee's Antoinette Keegan said the families are tired of being ignored.

The group says if it does not get sight of the report, which runs to around 100 pages, it will bring legal proceedings against the Government.

Why is the government not allowing these familes to see the report?? They have every bloody right to!! Things like this make my blood boil!

Antoinette wrote:Wednesday, 14 January 2009 15:00
Members of the Stardust Victims Committee say they will take their case to the European courts if they do not get information contained in a report on a possible public inquiry into the tragedy.

Representatives from the group are meeting with officials at Government Buildings in Dublin.

They are angry that a report on whether a fresh inquiry into the tragedy should be held has not been made available to them.

AdvertisementOn Friday 13 February 1981, 48 young people died after the Stardust nightclub in Artane in Dublin was destroyed by fire.

Since then relatives and victims have been campaigning to establish a public inquiry into the tragedy.

Last year an examination into whether a new public inquiry should be launched took place; computer simulations and witness evidence were examined.

Several weeks ago Paul Coffey, who chaired the hearings, gave his report to Government.

But despite the fact the report has been seen by members of Government and officials, the families remain in the dark.

Speaking this afternoon going into Government Buildings, the committee's Antoinette Keegan said the families are tired of being ignored.

The group says if it does not get sight of the report, which runs to around 100 pages, it will bring legal proceedings against the Government.

God, that was such a tragedy, I remember it happening well, as if it was yesterday.
The rent man called to our house and I remember him telling my Mam all about it, I was just a carefree teenager at the time, but the horror of it struck me all the same.

Absolutely disgusting that the relatives of the victims are STILL fighting for justice . WTF is that all about?
Bad enough losing your loved ones in such a terrible way, but all these years later, and there are still not proper answers being given, nope, quite the opposite. Just the run around ... it's enough to make you

That's the Irish Government for you. Two of my mam's neighbours sons were killed in that fire. Michael Ffrench and Johnny Colgan. I remember the smell in the air like it was yesterday.We lived about 10. minutes away from the Stardust Nightclub and the smell of burning lingered for weeks. The Stardust victims and their families have fought since to get justice for their loved ones and still they don't have answers. Yet the owner Mr Butterley was paid thousands in compensation for his business being destroyed. The 48 victims that died never stood a chance of getting out. The windows had steel bars on them and the EMERGENCY EXITS were chained shut.

Antoinette wrote:That's the Irish Government for you. Two of my mam's neighbours sons were killed in that fire. Michael Ffrench and Johnny Colgan. I remember the smell in the air like it was yesterday.We lived about 10. minutes away from the Stardust Nightclub and the smell of burning lingered for weeks. The Stardust victims and their families have fought since to get justice for their loved ones and still they don't have answers. Yet the owner Mr Butterley was paid thousands in compensation for his business being destroyed. The 48 victims that died never stood a chance of getting out. The windows had steel bars on them and the EMERGENCY EXITS were chained shut.

I think it's down to compensation claims, think they will do whatever to prevent having the ammunition for a claim.

I remember it well, was in Tamango's that night in Portmarnock and saw al the blue lights and sirens flying all around the place. Knew something big had happened but not the full extent of it til the next day. Dreadful :(

I didnt hear about this....is there a link to it when it happened?

I will have a look for the website set up by the families. plus Christy Moore wrote a song about it.It's called they never came home.It's banned over here because it tells the truth.

I can't find the actual website but if you type in Stardust fire into google it will give you all the information. it was valentines day 14th February 1981

Antoinette wrote:I can't find the actual website but if you type in Stardust fire into google it will give you all the information. it was valentines day 14th February 1981

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stardust_fire

Got it thanks!!

I will send u the song via email

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4pf1JIgooI


FOUND THE LINK TO THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE TOO

http://www.stardustsupport.com/

Stardust Fire
Location Artane, Dublin, Ireland
Date 14th February 1981
Ignition source Cigarette Butt
Fatalities 48
The Stardust fire was a fatal fire which took place at the Stardust nightclub in Artane, Dublin, Ireland in the early hours of 14 February 1981. Some 841 people had attended a disco there, of whom 48 died and 214 were injured as a result of the fire. The club was located where Butterly Business Park now lies, opposite Artane Castle Shopping Centre.

The incident
The fire was first noticed inside the building at 01:41 on the morning of Valentine's Day while the club was still full from the night before. It was claimed to have been started by a slashed seat cover allowing a flame, possibly from a cigarette, to ignite the foam beneath; however, to this day the question of arson has still not been ruled out by investigators. Paper decorations for the impending Valentine's Night celebrations also ignited, causing the entire building to catch fire.

The attendees at both the disco and a trade union function also in the building had to try to make their escape but were hampered by a number of obstructions. Some of the main fire exits turned out to be locked with padlocks and chains. Other fire exits simply had chains draped about the push bars. A large number of people attempted to escape through the men's toilets but the windows there had metal plates fixed on the inside and iron bars on the outside. Seven people died in the toilets while the fire services attempted to rescue them.

A total of 48 people died in the fire. The community, with most of the dead coming from Artane, Kilmore and greater Coolock, was devastated, with many people being in some way affected.

A tribunal of inquiry under Mr. Justice Ronan Keane concluded in November 1981 that the fire was probably caused by arson[1]. This finding, which has been disputed ever since, legally exonerated the owners from responsibility. However, the inquiry was damning in its criticism of the safety standards. See below for more on factual disputes.

The families of the victims and survivors fought in the courts for compensation, accountability, and, in their eyes, justice. The owners, the Butterly family, were nevertheless free to pursue their own claim for compensation against the city because of the arson finding - and were eventually awarded IR£580,000.

The aftermath led to a huge number of recommendations being made in relation to fire safety. Comparisons were made to the Summerland disaster of 1973 in the Isle of Man and the lessons learned in that jurisdiction.

However, some basic rules, such as the provision of fire extinguishers and fire exits being left unblocked and obviously posted, which have since been implemented, could probably have prevented any deaths if they had existed at the time.

In 2006 the lessee and manager of the Stardust at the time of the fire, Eamon Butterly, planned to re-open licensed premises on the site of the Stardust on the 25th anniversary. Described as "insensitive", this action occasioned protests by the victims' families and their supporters. The protests lasted for 10 weeks and ended when the Butterly family agreed to erect a memorial on the site, and change the name of the pub from "The Silver Swan" to the "Artane House".

In 2007, the bodies of five victims whom authorities were unable to identify were exhumed from a communal plot in St. Fintan's Cemetery, Sutton. The remains were identified with modern DNA analysis, and then given separate burials.

In July 1985, Irish folk singer Christy Moore was found guilty of contempt of court after writing and releasing a song, entitled They Never Came Home, about the plight of the Stardust fire victims, seemingly damning the owners of the nightclub and the government. It contained the following lines:

In a matter of seconds confusion did reign.
The room was in darkness, fire exits were chained.
and

Hundreds of children are injured and maimed,
and all just because the fire exits were chained.
Because it appeared to imply that the obstruction of the exits was solely responsible for the deaths and injuries, the song was banned and removed from the Ordinary Man album it had appeared on. As the album had just been released, it had to be withdrawn from circulation and re-issued with Another Song is Born in its place. Early versions of this album are considered rare and collectible.

The lyrics of the song are still "banned" in Ireland as libelous. Christy Moore was prosecuted, although he has since been known to sing the song on occasion.[citation needed]

This song was played for 10 weeks outside the "Silver Swan" as part of the protest over the re-opening of the pub in 2006. It was played every night from 6PM until 8PM whilst the families and supporters demonstrated in front of the filling station. The song was reputedly played for so long that three tapes failed, leading the protesters to use a CD player, which failed after eight days. They then resorted to an MP3 player (connected to an amplifier), which lasted for the duration of the protest before failing a week later.[citation needed]

In 2006 Ireland's national broadcaster, Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), caused controversy by producing a docu-drama about the Stardust disaster, entitled Stardust, to mark the 25th anniversary of the incident. Many families of victims have objected to this and were upset by the painful memories it brought up. A preview of this drama was shown to relatives in early February 2006 and after some minor changes it was broadcast on 12 and 13 February, 2006.