It has been 43 years since the fire disaster in Artane nightclub Dublin. An inquest jury has found that the 48 victims were unlawfully killed that night at the Stardust Nightclub. The jury said that a number of fire exits were obstructed, locked and even chained. The fire spread rapidly and claimed the lives of 48 young people between the ages of 16 to 27. The fire started in a hot press and the cause was an electrical fault. 

The tragedy will never be forgotten as the date of 14 February 1981 will always be marked by the tragedy that night in the Stardust nightclub.  Some of the families are calling for an apology from the Free State: they were ignored at the time and for the next 43 long years and are entitled to, at the very least, and apology, according to a family member. 

The Butterly family owned the building; Eamon Butterly, who was manager of the nightclub, had made an application to rule out unlawful killing, as he feared it would damage his professional image and profile. 

Our thoughts are with the victims of the Stardust disaster. 

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha. 

Críoch

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