Ivor Callely (Fianna Fail)

I formally second the motion before the House and welcome the Stardust committee, survivors and friends who are present in the Visitors Gallery. It is correct that we should amend the record of Seanad Éireann by way of the motion before the House. The motion is a clear acknowledgement of a difficult and at times trying struggle by the Stardust committee which continued its fight against the authorities despite all the odds until it was vindicated following a 28-year campaign.

I congratulate the committee and the many people involved on bringing the tragic Stardust disaster to a satisfactory closure. Prior to my role as a public representative I was a local person who had attended functions in the Stardust along with many of my friends. I am very conscious of the scale of the tragedy that took place on St. Valentine's Day 1981. For people born in the late 1950s and early 1960s, St. Valentine's Day 1981 would have been a special day in any event and one we would have looked forward to celebrating. When we look back on that day when 48 people lost their lives and many other individuals and families were scarred for life, so many hearts were broken in bereavement and so many families and communities in the immediate area were affected. The date, 14 February 1981, is engraved on the minds of many northsiders.

It is human nature to associate certain events with where one was when certain seminal events happened, such as the Twin Towers tragedy, the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the John F. Kennedy assassination and the Stardust disaster. When I heard the news of the Stardust fire in the early hours of 14 February, I recall the immediate concern for family and friends, as well as the first telephone call to my family home from a relative overseas in the knowledge that we were living nearby to see whether we were all right. The hours that followed revealed our worst nightmare: 48 innocent lives lost and more than 120 injured and scarred. The weeks that followed brought home to us all the inadequacies in our system in terms of the policing of security in entertainment venues, bars on exit windows, chains on exit doors, inappropriate materials within such premises, the lack of co-ordination between State authorities, emergency services and supports, inadequate water supplies, innuendo and much more.

The Keane tribunal of inquiry that followed, while it addressed a number of issues, was flawed and caused further hurt to survivors, families, friends and the Stardust committee. I am annoyed at the length of time it has taken to correct the record on this matter. I am greatly upset at the manner in which the Stardust committee has been treated over the past 28 years. It is source of embarrassment. The committee has been remarkably successful on a number of fronts and is due unequivocal acknowledgement and congratulations. One crucial demand the committee has is that no such tragedy should happen again. In this regard many of the Stardust recommendations have been implemented or taken into account in some form or fashion, especially in the area of fire safety infrastructure and services.

I commend the remarkable determination of the Stardust committee and the role of the media, in particular our northside journalists, Tony McCullagh and Neil Fetherstonhaugh, in their publication, They Never Came Home: The Stardust Story. There was also the work of Ms Geraldine Foy in 2004 that clearly drew attention to the new evidence available to the effect that the report of the Keane tribunal was unsound, unsafe and inaccurate. A further initiative by the Stardust committee and their solicitor, Mr. Greg O'Neill, in 2006, Nothing But the Truth, which made the case for a new public inquiry, led to the appointment of Mr. Paul Coffey SC in 2008 to conduct an examination of the Stardust committee's case. Mr. Coffey's recommendations are welcome, and I especially note the concerns of the Stardust victims' committee about the investigation into the cause of the fire disaster. His report acknowledges that the cause of the fire is unknown. It says the original finding of arson is a mere hypothetical explanation and is not demonstrated by the evidence and none of those present on the night of the fire can be held responsible for it. The report expresses its continuing and deep sympathy to all the victims and bereaved of the Stardust tragedy.

I want to make an additional plea today, namely, that the Government, the State and its agencies never allow such a miscarriage of justice to recur. The obstacles and instruments that block justice for such a prolonged period must be eradicated. The Stardust committee should be encouraged to work with the relevant Department to put in place protocols that would help individuals and groups who find themselves in similar uphill struggles against the Government, the State and its agencies. It is a daunting task for any individual or group to take on the State and fight a cause against all that power and might, with the frustration, worry, expertise required and money involved. Many give up. I salute the Stardust committee and all others involved in the campaign and I pay tribute to them. I warmly welcome the motion before the House.