Stardust families receive compensation payments of 24 million euros

The government has approved a €24 million compensation program for the families of the victims of the Stardust fire.

A major fire in the Dublin nightclub in 1981 killed 48 people.

After a 40-year struggle for justice, an investigation in April concluded that the 48 victims had been unlawfully killed.

An earlier finding in 1982 said the fire had been deliberately set, a theory the families never accepted.

That ruling was overturned in 2009, leading to the most recent judicial investigation into the cases of the victims, who were aged between 16 and 27 and predominantly from the north Dublin area.

A majority jury decision concluded that the fire, which broke out in the early hours of Valentine's Day 1981, was caused by an electrical fault in the bar's hot press.

Days after the decision, Taoiseach Simon Harris apologised to the victims, survivors and families of the tragedy, saying the state had let them down.

A special cabinet meeting was scheduled for Friday afternoon to approve the voluntary payment, which had been agreed in a series of meetings with the activists.

The Taoiseach, along with Tanaiste Micheal Martin, Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman and Justice Minister Helen McEntee, welcomed the conclusion of negotiations with the Stardust activists.

Mr Harris said: “The State understands very well, and I understand extraordinarily well from my meetings with the families, that the loss of a human life is priceless and priceless.

“When I first met the Stardust families, they said to me, 'Before you deliver the state's apology, please read the portraits, recognize and understand our loss, understand our pain as much as is humanly possible.'

He added to RTÉ: “That was my aim and that is why, in making the State's apology, I was determined to use the families' words as they described their loved ones.”

“I know, and so do the families, that there is no amount of money that can in any way replace the loss of a loved one. Not at all.”

The government said the compensation package culminated in a series of steps the government had taken to recognise the state's failure to provide truth and justice to the families for more than forty years.

If the total were divided equally among the 48 people who died in the fire, each family could receive compensation of 500,000 euros for the deaths of their loved ones.

Darragh Mackin, partner at Phoenix Law, who led negotiations with the Government on behalf of the families, said after the meeting: “Today's development is the culmination of intensive and tireless engagement with the Government and Sara Moorehead SC over the last few months.

“The unprecedented amount paid to the families reflects the unprecedented miscarriage of justice suffered by these families.

“The loss these families have suffered cannot be quantified.

“However, these payments go a long way towards supporting these families for all their tireless efforts and the investment of their lives that they have so courageously made over the past four decades.

“These payments are the gateway to a new morning for the families of these victims.

“A new morning when the truth comes to light and they can all return to a life free of injustice and litigation.

“A new morning where their families will be compensated with the greatest reward of all: the return of their families and friends who have been absent for four decades because of their unparalleled commitment to justice.

“In keeping with this week, these families leave the stage as champions, just like our Northside Olympic hero Kellie Harrington.

“The will goes to (Simon Harris), the Minister for Justice (Helen McEntee) and Ms Moorehead, whose commitment and dedication to this process has been unparalleled.

“In the words of the Taoiseach in his apology, the State is no longer working against these families, but with them. In line with their commitment, they have taken steps to ensure that these families are brought back from the cold.”