Speech by President Michael D. Higgins at a reception to honour the memory of those who died in the Stardust Tragedy
Áras an Uachtaráin, 16 October 2024
A cháirde,
Is mór an onóir dom féin agus Saidhbhín fáiltiú a fhearadh romhaibh uilig inniu, do Áras an Uachtaráin.
Sabina and I are honoured to host a reception today, here in Áras an Uachtaráin, for survivors of, and families affected by, the Stardust tragedy.
May I start by saying what an honour it was for me, mar Uachtarán na hÉireann, to lead the State Commemorations in the Garden of Remembrance, along with the families, on the 23rd of June this year on what was a profoundly emotional occasion.
Today we remember with respect and with solemnity that awful night in February 1981 in which 48 people perished and so many were injured – young people, full of life and vitality and youthful exuberance.
We remember Michael Barrett, Richard Bennett, Carol Bissett, Jimmy Buckley, Paula Byrne, Caroline Carey, John Colgan, Jacqueline Croker, Liam Dunne, Michael Farrell, Michael Ffrench, David Flood, Thelma Frazer, Josephine Glen, Michael Griffiths, Robert Hillick, Brian Hobbs, Eugene Hogan, Murtagh Kavanagh, Martina Keegan, Mary Keegan, Robert Kelly, Marie Kennedy, Mary Kenny, Margaret Kiernan, Sandra Lawless, Francis Lawlor, Maureen Lawlor, Paula Lewis, Eamonn Loughman, Donna Mahon, Helena Mangan, George McDermott, Marcella McDermott, William McDermott, Julie McDonnell, Teresa McDonnell, Gerard McGrath, Caroline McHugh, Jim Millar, Susan Morgan, David Morton, Kathleen Muldoon, George O’Connor, Brendan O’Meara, John Stout, Margaret Thornton, and Paul Wade.
While I know that the people of Ireland stand in solidarity with you in your loss, it is you yourselves and your families who have had to bear the grief of those tragic events, and, added to it, have had to bear the long wait for information and judgment on those tragic events that was and is your right.
Indeed, it was not just the long wait for information that was unacceptable, but also the additional hurt that was caused in the past by the regular reference and speculation as to what were unfounded theories as to the cause of the fire.
I readily understand the feeling felt by the relatives and victims gathered or represented here of being abandoned and failed by the system, of their being by the long delay and uncertainty denied justice for the loss of loved ones for so long. It was a let down by the State.
April’s verdict at the Dublin District Coroner’s Court of “unlawful killing” in the case of each of the 48 young people who lost their lives in the Stardust fire on that morning of the 14th of February 1981 is one that is of the deepest importance for all those whose lives were so irreparably changed by that most appalling of days.
Those who, as relatives, had to carry a terrible grief, had their burden made worse by the questions that were left unanswered, or answered incorrectly, or insufficiently, or simply in a distorted way. I now welcome the fact that, however late, you have now finally received comprehensive and credible answers.
The verdict is a vindication of the fight of the relatives on behalf of those they lost, a promise now fulfilled, but that had to be sustained over 43 long years, by relatives, friends and community of the 48 people, all aged between 16 and 27, who had their lives cut short on a night in which they had simply set out to spend in the company of their friends, dancing and enjoying music.
The Inquests, when they came, were heard over 122 days of hearings. That they took place at all was due to the most relentless endurance and tenacity of their families’ endurance and commitment, never to give up and to force a conclusion as to establishment of fact. Their struggle for dignity and recognition, however late being accorded to the lives of each of those 48 young people, was and will be remembered as a powerful human achievement.
That recognition is important, not least as to the meaning of their lives, the significance of their relationships and friendships, but also as to the devastating incalculable impact which their deaths had on the shared dreams and hopes of all those who cared for and loved them.
Each of their lives has been so vividly remembered, recalled and honoured by their family members who presented such important portraits of their lives over the course of the Inquests. The jury heard vivid and touching descriptions of bright, happy lives lost and the shattering impact of their deaths on families and their communities. The emotion with which they were delivered testified to the ongoing devastation wrought by the tragedy.
The Inquests’ findings have at last brought a conclusion as to the circumstances of their death: to the cause of the fire, to the factors which contributed to its spread, to the factors which impeded those who died in seeking to escape and to access and egress through emergency exits, by its ultimate verdict of unlawful killing – findings which are the fruit of tireless campaigning and unyielding work of those who cared most for the loss and appropriate memory of each of those who died.
So may I take this opportunity again to thank the jury at the Inquests who gave a year of their lives in one of the most important exercises of citizenship – the establishment of these most important of facts.
May I also thank all those who helped the families along the way – the legal teams involved, but also the late Charlie Bird who continued to be a source of great support to the families, and all of the members of the emergency services who responded on that terrible night.
Amnesia as to painful events of the past can never be an option. It is too easy to say it’s over, it can never be over as the loss is irreparable. The State Apology and State Commemoration of the Stardust tragedy in Dublin’s Garden of Remembrance, both earlier this year, were critically important events, marking as they did one of the worst tragedy’s in our nation’s recent history, but also days of vindication and of honour, whilst also days of the deepest sadness and regret.
I am conscious that today, like that day and so many others, will be a day of the deepest emotions for the loved ones of those who died. I think in particular of those whose passing means this conclusion comes regrettably too late for them, particularly all the parents of those who were lost who bore great pain and sorrow living the remainder of their lives without justice having been seen or demonstrated for their children.
Mar Uachtarán na hÉireann, may I take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you present today. You have ensured that your loved ones and the suffering sourced in the Stardust tragedy itself will be remembered by generations to come. You have ensured that their names will never be forgotten, their young faces etched on our national shared memory.
As President of Ireland, may I congratulate you for your steadfastness in pursuit of justice in honouring the memory of those for whom you cared so deeply.
And beyond any of your individual selves, there is a way in which a community had something vital and important torn out of it that should not have happened. Confronting and transacting such past atrocities as the Stardust Tragedy requires those impacted to endure a painful and often protracted process of grief, and of understandable anger and at times, for some, even despair.
Seeking support, being present, together, to confront the difficult reality of tragedy and loss, undertaking the necessary task of ‘gathering around’, and offering of ourselves to each other – such actions are important and it is important the solidarities that have been expressed among yourselves in sharing and handling that grief.
It is for all of us not only a hope but for healing that this exercise take place, in as far as healing can ever be possible in the wake of such a terrible tragedy. The making of new versions of life. I wish you every health and happiness in that.
Sabina and I would like to thank all of you present today for everything you have done over the past 43 years to seek justice once and for all for all of your loved ones now missed so much but not gone in your memory and never will be gone in your memory but remembered respectfully with dignity and solemnity.
Sabina and I want to pay tribute to the extraordinary effort you made of endurance, to honour it, and through you to honour them.
Guímíd gach beannacht oraibh agus bhúr teaghlaigh d’on todchaí.