Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In order to achieve justice, one needs the truth. Nearly 36 years on, victims and their families of the Stardust tragedy have yet to find the truth, despite their desperate and commendable search for it. Their search for truth has been obstructed at every turn by nearly everyone who had the power to retrieve it. Apart from Mr. Butterly’s own attempts to obstruct justice, the shortcomings of the Garda investigation itself have been called into question, including the Department of Justice’s handling of evidence. Conclusions of arson made by the Keane tribunal report in 1982 were controversial and helped secure Mr. Butterly handsome compensation as a result. Even this seemed to have benefited everyone else apart from the victims and their families who were left with questions still unanswered.

Mr. Paul Coffey carried out an independent examination in 2008, and he gave a completely different finding that arson was not the cause. However, the Coffey report was manipulated in between the time the Government got hold of it and when it was presented to this House in January 2009. This was discovered through the efforts of the Stardust families, their drive to seek justice as strong as ever. Through a freedom of information inquiry, they discovered that in an earlier draft of the report, Mr. Coffey stated: "I further accept that a new inquiry is necessary if it is the only way of placing on the public record a finding that is based on evidence." However, this was absent from the public report. It is almost certain that this was an attempt by the Government itself to cover up the truth. Those who had the most power to uncover the truth played a role in concealing it. This alone warrants an independent commission of investigation.

We have a problem with truth in this country. Whether it was the Catholic church, industrial schools, Magdalen laundries, our health system that allowed symphysiotomy, residential care homes, the role of the Garda in certain historic investigations, councillors or Deputies, Ministers and the Government of the day, we all have a problem with truth. Today, we have an opportunity to address this problem, not only for the sake of justice for the victims and families of the Stardust tragedy, but for all searches for the truth. We can do this by supporting the establishment of an independent commission of investigation into the Stardust tragedy as the only way forward.

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