Cabinet to agree €24m redress scheme for Stardust families

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

The Cabinet is to sign off on a €24 million redress scheme for the families of those affected by the Stardust fire.

48 people were killed when the blaze ripped through the Dublin nightclub in 1981.

After a more than 40-year campaign for justice, an inquest in April found that the 48 victims had been unlawfully killed.

A previous finding in 1982 said that the fire had been started deliberately, a theory the families never accepted.

That ruling was dismissed in 2009, leading to the latest inquests for the victims, who were aged from 16 to 27 and mostly came from the surrounding north Dublin area.

A majority decision from the jury found the blaze, which broke out in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 1981, was instead caused by an electrical fault in the hot press of the bar.

Days after the decision, Taoiseach Simon Harris apologised to the victims, survivors and families of the tragedy, saying the State failed them.

A special Cabinet meeting was scheduled for Friday afternoon to sign off on the scheme which has been agreed with campaigners through a series of meetings.

If the overall figure is apportioned equally by the 48 people who were killed in the fire, each family may receive a redress payment of €500,000 for the death of their loved one.

Speaking after the meeting, Darragh Mackin, partner at Phoenix Law, who led the negotiations with the Government on behalf of the families, said: “Today’s development is the crystallisation of the intense and relentless engagement with the Government and Sara Moorehead SC over the last number of months.

“The unprecedented sum paid to the families is reflective of the unprecedented miscarriage of justice bestowed on these families.

“It is impossible to put a value on the loss these families have sustained.

“However, these payments go a considerable way to providing support to these families for all their relentless efforts and life investment, which they so courageously devoted over the last four decades.

“These payments are the gateway to a new dawn for the families of these victims.

“A new dawn whereby the truth is known, and where they can now each return to a life free from injustice and litigation.

“A new dawn whereby their families will be compensated with the greatest prize of all: the return of their families and friends who, for four decades, have been absent due to their unrivalled devotion to justice.

“In line with this week, like our Northside Olympic hero Kellie Harrington, these families leave the stage as champions.

“Testament must be paid to (Simon Harris), the Minister for Justice (Helen McEntee) and Ms Moorehead, whose commitment and dedication to this process has been unrivalled.

“In line with the Taoiseach’s words in the apology, the state no longer works against these families but works with them. In line with their commitment, they have taken steps to ensure these families are brought back in from the cold.”