The Stardust families have finally received justice with the approval of a €24 million redress scheme by the Cabinet. The inquest verdict in April confirmed that the 48 victims of the tragic fire were unlawfully killed due to an electrical fault in the nightclub. This overturns the original 1982 finding that the fire was deliberate, a conclusion long contested by the families and struck from the record in 2009.
Taoiseach Simon Harris and Minister for Justice Helen McEntee presented the memo outlining the plan at the Cabinet meeting. Harris emphasized that “no sum of money can replace the loss of a loved one,” echoing the sentiments of the families who sought truth and justice, not monetary compensation. Survivor Antoinette Keegan reiterated that no amount of money can bring back the lives lost.
The redress scheme follows a State apology by Harris, individual letters of apology to the families, and a commemoration ceremony at the Garden of Remembrance. The families’ solicitor, Darragh Mackin, acknowledged the significant sum paid to reflect the miscarriage of justice suffered by the families over the last four decades.