Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I welcome the Minister of State. I have a daughter in America. Like many other parents, I felt a shiver go through me when I heard in February that there had been a fire at a nightclub in Rhode Island and that 96 people were missing. As Senator Bannon stated, those people had, in fact, died. Within a week, there was another fire in Chicago in which 11 people died. Senator Kitt mentioned the events of St. Valentine's day of 1981, which I remember well. We had a supermarket in that area of Coolock and I received a telephone call at 6 a.m. to say that many people were missing after the Stardust fire. As it turned out, a number of our employees were killed. The memory of the week of funerals and the tragic months that followed acts as a reminder of the Bill's importance.