Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

I thank the Taoiseach for acknowledging in the House earlier today my interest and that of the Labour Party in pursuing justice and closure for the Stardust relatives and victims' committee, the families of the 48 young people who tragically lost their lives in February 1981 and the people of Coolock, Raheny, Donaghmede, Kilbarrack and Artane in Dublin North East constituency. I renew my call tonight to the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, to establish a commission of inquiry into the Stardust tragedy and to review the findings of the original tribunal which reported in 1982.

In a very real way the people I represent have been waiting for nearly 26 years for such a judicial review and it is inexcusable that the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform have continually stonewalled in their response to the review of the evidence presented by the Stardust relatives and victims' committee and to the new evidence which has also been presented. This morning the Taoiseach stated that he had been available to meet the Stardust committee since February this year but the meeting only finally took place in September last, more than six months later. Why has a decision on this issue dragged on interminably and why are the relatives and survivors of the Stardust victims now being told that they must wait another three weeks? Why do they have to parade up and down, as they did 20 years ago outside the Taoiseach's Department? These, including the Taoiseach's response this morning, do not seem like the actions of a Government that is anxious to help achieve some level of justice and closure for a group of people who have been treated so appallingly over the past 26 years.

Exactly two years ago this month I accompanied a delegation of Stardust survivors and relatives to meet Mr. Seán Aylward, Secretary General of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and his principal officer, Mr. Noel Sinnott. This meeting was held in the light of a new report prepared by Ms Geraldine Foy that re-assessed and rejected some of the critical conclusions of the original Stardust tribunal report and presented new evidence. The report also raised disturbing issues regarding the cause of the fire. In particular it showed strong evidence that the fire began in the roof space where cleaning oils were located and greatly contributed to the rapid conflagration of the inferno. It also showed that maps used during the original tribunal were misleading.

In a special Dáil debate earlier in the year I outlined a number of key issues which clearly point to the need for an urgent re-assessment of the unsound original conclusions of the Keane report. They include a litany of breaches of the building by-laws and public resort laws, the serious shortcomings in the forensic examination carried out by the Garda and the Department of Justice and also compelling evidence relating to the electrical system of the Stardust night club which was disregarded in the tribunal report.

We have had a series of new reports. Two outstanding young northside journalists, Neil Fetherstonhaugh and Tony McCullagh, published their comprehensive book, They Never Came Home, in 2001. We have had the "Prime Time Investigates" programme on RTE on St. Valentine's night last. These clearly show the urgent need for a new tribunal.

Earlier today the Stardust relatives and victims' committee asked me to ask the Taoiseach and the Minister to release all records held by the forensic department and Garda detailing their search of the waterlogged basement, as clearly marked on the Garda map. They also asked for the publication of the full report on the storeroom contents at mezzanine level. They asked for the publication of Garda photographs of the storeroom at mezzanine level and laboratory test results from Mr. Michael Norton's analysis. They also asked why 32 of the victims' bodies had portions of limbs missing, which the original tribunal report notes but does not investigate.

The substantive issue remains. We welcome the report on the tragic graves and bodies in St. Fintan's cemetery. In light of the new evidence and the unsafe conclusions of the original tribunal report, a mechanism to facilitate a new commission of inquiry is urgently necessary and I urge the Taoiseach to set it up.

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