Business Post's View

Stardust disaster: A national tragedy which became a national scandal

The state must ensure that the Stardust tragedy, and its cruelly long aftermath, never happen again

Members of the public visit the Stardust victims memorial at the site of the tragedy in Artane, the day after the Stardust Fire Inquests jury delivered 48 verdicts of unlawful killing in the Dublin District Coroner's Court. Picture: RollingNews

The fire at the Stardust nightclub in Dublin on St Valentine’s night in 1981, which killed 48 young people and injured at least 200 others, is the most terrible tragedy in the history of the Republic.

Most of the victims were from working-class families around the northside suburb of Artane. Not since the Easter Rising had the capital experienced such loss of life in a single incident.

A first inquiry concluded that the fire was ...