Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We should all declare an interest in this matter. My first recollection was as a young person living in Dublin and hearing the news of this tragedy on the radio. I was a Sinn Féin youth spokesperson at the time. I remember putting out a statement expressing my condolences to the families involved. It is a long time ago. Deputy O'Callaghan said it changed the fire regulations. However, I remember visiting a nightclub in Galway with a group of friends a couple of years later. After about ten minutes we all had this uncomfortable feeling and left. The reason we left was that we noticed there were chains on the fire doors, yet this was a number of years after the Stardust tragedy.

Those young people went out to enjoy themselves, but many of them did not come home. Many others were scarred for life. I remember meeting some of them over the years, including the campaigners who tirelessly tried to get politicians to raise the matter. The Minister says it is regrettable that we do not have a consensus. I cannot speak on behalf of the families and do not know how they feel about the Government's amendment. There was a consensus up to tonight on this matter. There was general agreement that the way forward was a commission of investigation. I am saddened that people blinked and, for whatever reasons, took a decision to go down that path. I hope it works out for the families because they are all getting older and more tired, yet they all want answers.

A constituent, Mark Frazer, said today that the one question that is forever discussed within his family is why no one was ever prosecuted over the chained and blocked fire exit. I do not have the answers to that, but I know who was guilty. It was not the young people who went to the dance that night. I have made my views well known over the years. I know who was behind this tragedy - it was the people who put the locks, bolts and chains on the door. They are responsible for what happened to those young people.

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