Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to start by welcoming the families to the Visitors Gallery on this difficult evening. I know how hard it must be for them. Not far from here on the northside of Dublin, 48 young people lost their lives in the Stardust fire. They were young people, with an average age of 19 years, who never came home. We also remember the hundreds of others who were injured in the fire. Words cannot fully describe the enormity of pain involved in the deaths of 48 young people on St. Valentine's night, including the pain their mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters have been feeling since then. Words cannot do justice to the families. Only the truth can do them justice.

Families, survivors and the community need to find the answers to this horrific tragedy. Correcting any possible injustice should be the obvious action by any Government. In this respect it should be pursued to the end.

The journey the families have had to go through began on that awful night in 1981 and it continues to this very day, from the flawed Keane report in 1982 - we all know that report added much more pain for the families - to the Coffey review of 2009, which contained an unpublished recommendation for a new inquiry. The Minister and her Government have the power to take action and help to discover the truth by creating a commission of investigation.

The State claims that it needs new evidence. The families have given the Department of Justice and Equality new evidence which should be used in a commission of investigation. Will the Minister and her Government help the families to find the truth? They should not delay justice any longer with the Government amendment. It is almost 36 years since the tragedy and it has been a long time for families who are seeking the truth. Action needs to be taken for those who died long before their time, as well as for the injured and their families. This Government needs to pursue a commission of investigation to find the truth for them. The Minister should not prolong their pain any longer. She must act now.

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