RELATIVES OF victims of the Stardust disaster said they held “constructive” talks with an official from the Department of the Taoiseach last night.
Antoinette Keegan, who lost two sisters in the fire, was one of a group of four relatives who visited Leinster House yesterday hoping to secure a meeting with Taoiseach Brian Cowen.
They threatened to remain in the building overnight unless they met Mr Cowen, but left when an arrangement was made for them to have a meeting with an official from the Department of the Taoiseach in a nearby hotel.
“We wanted to meet with the Taoiseach. We met the Taoiseach’s official. I think it was constructive. I think it was fair. We went in peace and we left in peace,” said Ms Keegan. She said the meeting lasted for around an hour and a half.
The official from the Department of the Taoiseach confirmed that the meeting had taken place. He said it had been a useful dialogue, with issues being worked on and solutions sought.
Ms Keegan’s mother, Christine, said: “We let him know we want a public apology from the State. That’s very important. I emphasised it three times.”
Gertrude Barrett and Eugene Kelly were also among those present.
The group was brought into Leinster House for a meting by Fine Gael TD Terence Flanagan. Last night he said: “Hopefully something good will come from this and the families will be satisfied.”
The group is seeking a reopening of the inquest into the deaths of the 48 people in the nightclub fire in 1981. Many more were seriously injured at the Stardust disco in Artane, north Dublin, on the night of February 13th.
A public apology from the State to the victims of the tragedy for the original finding of the tribunal of inquiry into the fire, which concluded the cause to be probable arson, is also being sought.
The group is also campaigning for a national commemoration day for the victims of the disaster.
Last year, the Government formally corrected the public record to state there is no evidence the Stardust fire almost 29 years ago was started deliberately and the cause of the fire is unknown.
Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said the Dáil “acknowledges that the cause of the fire is unknown, the original finding of arson is a mere hypothetical explanation and is not demonstrated by any evidence and that none of the persons present on the night of the fire can be held responsible for it”.
