Taoiseach to deliver letters of apology to Stardust survivors and families

Taoiseach Simon Harris will deliver a letter of apology to individual survivors and families of the Stardust tragedy, as the Government prepares for a national commemoration.

Mr Harris also said that counselling supports would be put in place for the impacted families.

Speaking to reporters at Government Buildings, Mr Harris confirmed that he would be engaging with the survivors and families in the coming days over the content of the apology letter.

“I now intend to issue a personal letter of apology to each of the families. I want to get that right, I want to work with their teams on that and I want to get that done as quickly as possible,” Mr Harris said.

On supports, Mr Harris said that the Government would be reaching out to people “very shortly” on the matter.

Regarding a commemoration of the Stardust tragedy, which saw 48 young people die in a nightclub fire in 1981, Mr Harris said that the families would be leading on the matter.

“How do we commemorate and atone publicly for Stardust? I have ideas and my ideas paled in significance compared to the families,” Mr Harris said.

“I think it’s important that they lead on this, so we will have direct engagement with the families as to what a suitable national commemoration could look like.”

Inquests into the tragedy last week returned a verdict of unlawful killing, after the jury deliberated for 40 hours.

Mr Harris thanked the families for engaging with him in the days following the inquest verdict, saying that he understands that working with the State is not an easy thing for them to do.

“You can understand why engaging with the State is not an easy or often pleasant thing for Stardust families to do, having been betrayed by the State so often for 43 years,” Mr Harris said.

Screengrab taken from Oireachtas TV of Taoiseach Simon Harris in Dáil Éireann issuing a State apology to the families of the victims of the Stardust fire. Picture: Oireachtas TV/PA Wire

Screengrab taken from Oireachtas TV of Taoiseach Simon Harris in Dáil Éireann issuing a State apology to the families of the victims of the Stardust fire. Picture: Oireachtas TV/PA Wire

In his State apology, Mr Harris said that the survivors and families of the Stardust tragedy had been through a “living nightmare”.

“Today we say formally and without equivocation – we are sorry. We failed you when you needed us most from the very beginning. We have stood with you, but instead we forced you to stand against us.”

Mr Harris said that he hoped that the State “which rubbed salt in the wounds” of families would now “start to help you heal”.

He said that he hoped that last week’s verdicts would be a “turning point” for both the families and the state.

He said that the victims were “more than numbers” and were “bright, young people”.

In his apology, Mr Harris read the name of each victim alongside a portion of their pen portraits, which had been shared during the inquests last year.

He said that families had suffered “stigma heaped upon sorrow” as their loved ones were accused of having set the fire deliberately.

Mr Harris said that it was “to our great shame” that the state’s processes had heaped “misery upon tragedy” for the family.

He said that he was “so deeply sorry” that the first bid for justice in 1981 had ended with “suspicion being cast on those who died”.

He said that, as Taoiseach, he apologised with no reservations.

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