Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South West Seán Crowe has welcomed the announcement today that the jury in the Stardust inquest returned a verdict of unlawful killing in respect of the 48 who never came home the night of the Stardust fire in 1981.

Teachta Crowe said:

“Like almost every Dubliner of my generation, I remember the night of the Stardust fire all too vividly. The shock, the disbelief, the sorrow. It has been over 43 years now since that night and finally the families have been vindicated in their pursuit of justice.

“Those that died that night should not have and they were innocent victims all. The scurrilous lies that somehow the victims were responsible have been dismissed and found to be baseless and false.

“The verdict of unlawful killing of all 48 victims is a damning indictment of just how long this decision took to come about. Justice delayed is justice denied.

“For decades, the Stardust victims’ family members and loved ones were met with disdain, condescension, and dismissal when they tried to get justice for those that died. Some of those who died were branded as thugs or criminals because they took what drastic action they could to try and save those trapped in the fire.

“Too many people never got to see this day. Injustice was heaped upon injustice for 43 years. I hope those that heard the verdict today can find some small measure of peace in it. Finally, we have the truth about what happened to those 48 people never came home.”