‘We made history’ cry Stardust families after Harris pays personal tribute and says State ‘heaped misery upon tragedy’ | KMW003E | 2024-05-01 00:08:01
'We made history' cry Stardust families after Harris pays personal tribute and says State 'heaped misery upon tragedy' | KMW003E | 2024-05-01 00:08:01
THE families of 48 people who died in the Stardust tragedy today received a long awaited apology from the State, with Taoiseach Simon Harris telling them: "We failed you when you needed us the most."
It comes as the Dail heard calls for a criminal prosecution to follow the new ruling that the 48 young people were unlawfully killed in the horrific 1981 fire.
Following last week's verdict at the Dublin Coroner's Court, the Taoiseach issued an "unequivocal apology" to the victims' families for the State's role in compounding their grief by blocking the truth and delaying justice.
Families wept in the Dail as the Taoiseach paid tribute to each victim before leaving the Chamber to go to the public gallery and personally meet each family and apologise.
The Dail heard how in the wake of the inferno, an initial probe wrongly ruled that the fire was started by arson – a claim that tarred the victims as possible arsonists despite zero evidence.
Survivors of the fire – who were just teenagers at the time – were questioned by teams of State barristers in an aggressive and intimidating manner.
The Government then helped to spread this arson lie before bullying and pressuring families to sign non-disclosure agreements if they wanted to be part of a redress scheme.
Afterwards, families were threatened that they could lose their homes if they took legal challenges against the State.
Taoiseach Simon Harris today apologised to the victims' families as he said: "The State processes heaped misery upon tragedy for the Stardust families."
He said: "Today we say formally and without any equivocation, we are sorry. We failed you when you needed us the most.
"From the very beginning, we should have stood with you, but instead we forced you to stand against us."
The Taoiseach paid a personal tribute to each person who died in the fire – reading out their name and borrowing descriptions of them from pen portraits that families have put together for the latest inquiry.
<!-- End of Brightcove Player --> In one emotional tribute, he spoke about Caroline Carey who was pregnant when she died in the fire whose baby the Taoiseach described as "the 49th victim of the Stardust tragedy."
The Fine Gael leader paid tribute to the staff who worked in the Stardust on the night of the fire along with the emergency services, gardai, soldiers and taxi drivers who responded to the blaze.
He apologised to the families for the "great and eternal shame" of the State's response to the fire as he claimed Government bodies turned a cold shoulder on them.
He said: "For all of this, as Taoiseach, on behalf of the State, I apologise unreservedly to all the families of the Stardust victims and all the survivors for the hurt that was done to them and for the profoundly painful years of struggle for the truth.
"I apologise to the families that those present on the night of the fire were wrongly criminalised through the allegation of arson which was an attack on their reputations.
"I say today every person there was innocent. I say today the truth is now known."
He added: "I hope this is a moment when the State, which rubbed salt in your terrible wounds, starts to help you heal."
After the speech, the Taoiseach left the Chamber to go to the Dail's public gallery where he shook the hand of every family member who had come to see his apology.
<p class="article__content--intro"> THE families of the Stardust dead were forced to begin campaigning just days after the fire. They knew then, and would be reminded for the next 43 years, they would have to fight with everything they had. </p> </div> </div> Afterwards, Lisa Lawlor – who lost both of her parents in the fire – welcomed the Taoiseach's apology and said: "We made Irish history today."
She said: "We are very happy with what happened today.
"The news is brilliant, we had a great victory here today that people of the Stardust and the victims are not being blamed for their deaths anymore.
"I am very happy. I lost my identity through Stardust. Both my parents were killed that night. None of them made it that night. We have made Irish history today."
Politicians' tributes
After the Taoiseach's speech, TDs from across the House stood up to pay tribute to the families and their four decades long campaign for justice.
Labour TD Aodhan O'Riordain also called on the gardai and the Director of Public Prosecutions to launch a criminal investigation into the fire following the unlawful killing ruling in the latest inquiry.
He said: "If those you loved were unlawfully killed, then someone unlawfully killed them.
"It is time for the gardai, the DPP, and the Minister of Justice to do what is right. What would happen in any other case of corporate manslaughter in any other part of the city?
<!-- Start of Brightcove Player --> </div> <!-- End of Brightcove Player --> "There must be another day in court."
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy backed this call as he said: "Those who did the unlawful killing must be brought to justice."
Richard Boyd Barrett also took aim at Eamonn Butterly. The Butterly family was awarded half a million pounds in damages for the fire after taking a case against the corporation following the arson ruling.
Deputy Boyd Barrett said: "How is it that the owner of the Stardust received half a million euro in compensation whereas the families suffered 43 years of the struggle, the tarnishing of their reputations, of being implied that they were lying?
'Terrible impacts'
"And all the terrible impacts that they felt and the loss that they had suffered and they had to fight for this moment."
Eamon Butterly – who was manager of the club at the time – has previously denied at inquiries that fire exits were locked or blocked despite clear evidence that they were.
The Dail heard how the Butterly family had connections to Fianna Fail – the party of former Taoiseach Charlie Haughey who was in charge of the Government at the time of the fire.
Deputy Mick Barry said: "Tribunal chairman High Court Justice Keane appointed by the Government of Charles J Haughey found the cause of the fire to be probable arson.
"Keane's verdict allowed the owner – a Fianna Fail fundraiser – the man whose premise had bars on the bathroom windows and chains on the fire exits paint himself as a victim.
"This is before going down to the court making a claim against the corporation and pocketing £539,000 – €2m in today's money.
"Unlawful killing of 48 young people. That is what the State has now ruled so we will watch with interest to see if criminal prosecutions now follow."
Sinn Fein TD Mary Lou McDonald received a round of applause from all of the families in the Dail following her speech during which she fought back tears paying tribute to their campaign.
Families' nightmare
The Dublin TD spoke of the nightmare that families faced in the wake of the fire as the State put up barriers to block them from getting the truth about what happened to their children.
Paying tribute to the campaigning families, she said: "The hope of Government was that the families would eventually stop, eventually shut up, eventually give up and eventually go away".
She said the Stardust fire "broke the heart of this city and took away the breath of the country."
More >> https://ift.tt/ixgWUY3 Source: MAG NEWS
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