Stardust Anniversary Raises Questions

By Frank Shouldice, Contributor
April / May 2006

Hundreds of people gathered in the north Dublin suburb of Coolock to remember the 48 young people who died in a fire at the Stardust nightclub 25 years ago. The disaster occurred at a disco on St. Valentine’s eve in 1981. and families of the victims are demanding that the investigation into the fire should be reopened.

The last inquiry was inconclusive about the cause of the fire, suggesting that the blaze was probably caused by arson. However, families and survivors feel they got “no justice” from that investigation and they want the case reopened to re-examine forensic evidence. “The collective loss and injury is of a scale so deep as to be beyond the imagination,” said Fr. Kevin Moore, who celebrated a memorial Mass in Coolock. ♦

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