Deaths of 48 people in 1981 fire at Dublin’s Stardust nightclub were unlawful killing, jury rules
The deaths of 48 people in the worst fire in the history of Ireland have been ruled by a jury as unlawful killing.
A jury at Dublin District Coroner’s Court delivered majority verdicts on the victims of the 1981 Stardust nightclub fire in the city on Thursday.
The venue in Artane, north Dublin, was packed with around 800 people when the fire broke out in the early hours of Valentine’s Day.
The Stardust fire took place in Dublin in the early hours of 14 February 1981. Pic: PA
More than 200 people were injured in the disaster.
Fresh inquests into the deaths, the longest held in Ireland, were ordered by the country’s attorney general in 2019, but only began last year.
Samantha’s mother Helena was killed in the fire
A jury, made up of seven women and five men, delivered the verdict on Thursday after 11 days of deliberation.
Some family members of the victims jumped to their feet and clapped at the verdict, while others were moved to tears as they remained in their seat.
Others embraced each other as soon as the foreman said “unlawful killing”.
The jury also established that the fire started as a result of an electrical fault in an airing cupboard.
In the ballroom, foam in the seating, the height of the ceiling in an alcove, and carpet tiles on the wall all contributed to the spread of the fire, the jurors found.
Several factors, including lack of visibility because of black smoke, the toxicity of the smoke or the gases, the heat of the fire, the speed of the fire’s spread, lack of staff preparedness and the failure of the emergency lighting system were all factors that impeded the victims in escaping the building.
It was unable to determine when the blaze started but said it was first seen outside the building between 1.20am and 1.40am.
Jurors said the fire was first seen inside the ballroom between 1.35am and 1.40am.
Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane paid tribute to the “persistence and commitment” of the families who had campaigned for fresh inquests.
“To the families I acknowledge the deaths of these 48 young people is a source of ongoing grief to those who loved them and it remains the defining loss of their lives,” she said.
“However, I hope that family members will have taken some solace from the fact that these fresh inquests were held, that the facts surrounding the deaths were examined in detail, that moving testimony was heard from many of those involved in the events of the night and, most importantly, that you the families felt fully involved in proceedings, however difficult it was to hear all of the evidence.
“The fact that these inquests have been held at all is in no small part due to the persistence and commitment of families over the years.
“And, finally, we remember those 48 young people who lost their lives on that fateful night. It is their lives that we’ve sought to vindicate by way of these inquests.”
On Wednesday, the foreman told coroner Myra Cullinane they had been unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
Ms Cullinane said she would accept a simple majority of seven and allowed the jury’s deliberations to continue.
Family members of victims of the Stardust tragedy along with supporters arriving at the Rotunda Foundation in Dublin for the 15th pre-inquest hearing in 2022. Pic: PA
Pat Dunne’s brother died in the tragedy
A tribunal of inquiry set up soon after the fire found arson was the “probable” cause, something the families rejected as it appeared to blame those attending the disco and absolved the club’s owners.
This is despite evidence that exits in the ballroom were locked, chained or otherwise obstructed, which the jury confirmed this afternoon.
They were themselves awarded IR£581,000 compensation by a Dublin court in 1983.
But victims’ relatives kept pushing for a new investigation and, eventually, new inquests were announced, only for legal arguments and wrangling over juror pay to delay proceedings by a further four years.
Relatives of those killed in the Stardust fire at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin ahead of the first day of the inquest. File pic
Ireland’s prime minister, Simon Harris, described the Stardust tragedy as “one of the darkest moments in our history”.
“A heartbreaking tragedy because of the lives that were lost, the families that were changed forever, and the long, drawn-out struggle for justice that followed,” he said.
In a statement after a jury at inquests into the deaths of the 48 people in the Dublin nightclub disaster in 1981 returned a verdict of unlawful killing, Mr Harris remembered those who lost their lives and paid tribute to their families for pursuing truth and justice “to ensure that such a disaster never happens again”.
He said the Irish government will consider the verdict in full, and the recommendations of the jury.
“I want to acknowledge and thank the coroner, and her team and the jurors,” he said.
“48 young people never came home that night, but as Taoiseach I want to say this to their families; You never gave up on justice for them, you never let Ireland forget about them. They were never alone, and our country owes you a great debt for that.”
Police in riot gear have raided Columbia University and arrested pro-Palestinian protesters occupying one of its buildings.
Around 30 to 40 people have been removed from the Manhattan university’s Hamilton Hall, according to police.
The raid came hours after New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the demonstration at the Ivy League school “must end now”.
He also claimed the demonstration had been infiltrated by “professional outside agitators”.
University bosses said they called in the New York Police Department (NYPD) after protesters “chose to escalate the situation through their actions”.
“After the university learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalised, and blockaded, we were left with no choice,” a university spokesman said in a statement.
“The decision to reach out to the NYPD was in response to the actions of the protesters, not the cause they are championing.
“We have made it clear that the life of campus cannot be endlessly interrupted by protesters who violate the rules and the law.”
Police enter Hamilton Hall. Pic: Reuters
Police gather around Columbia University before moving in to break-up the protest. Pic: Reuters
Police stand guard near an encampment of protesters on the grounds of Columbia University. Pic: Reuters
Arrested protesters from Columbia University are loaded onto a bus. Pic: Reuters
The protest began when students barricaded the entrance of Hamilton Hall at Columbia’s campus on Tuesday and unfurled a Palestinian flag out of a window.
Video footage showed protesters locking arms in front of the hall and carrying furniture and metal barricades to the building.
Those behind the protest said they had renamed the building “Hind’s Hall” in honour of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old girl killed in a strike on Gaza in February.
Protesters unfurled a flag with the words ‘Hind’s Hall’. Pic: Reuters
Protesters hang banners on the exterior of Hamilton Hall building. Pic: Reuters
Demonstrators said they had planned to remain at the hall until the university conceded to the Columbia University Apartheid Divest’s (CUAD) three demands: divestment, financial transparency and amnesty.
“Columbia will be proud of these students in five years,” said Sweda Polat, one of the student negotiators for CUAD.
She said students did not pose a danger and called on police to back down.
Officers raided the campus on Tuesday night after university bosses wrote to New York City officials and the NYPD formally asking for assistance.
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A large group of officers dressed in riot gear entered the campus late on Tuesday evening. Officers were also seen entering the window of a university building via a police-branded ladder vehicle, nicknamed “the bear”.
Earlier, Mayor Adams urged demonstrators to leave the site. “Walk away from this situation now and continue your advocacy through other means,” he said.
Columbia University also threatened academic expulsions for students involved in the demonstration.
Protesters block the entrance of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University. Pic: AP
Demonstrators block the entrance of Hamilton Hall. Pic: AP
Protests at Columbia earlier this month kicked off demonstrations which have spread to university campuses from California to Massachusetts.
Dozens of people were arrested on Monday during protests at universities in Texas, Utah, Virginia, and New Jersey.
Police moved to clear an encampment at Yale University in Connecticut on Tuesday morning, but there were no immediate reports of arrests.
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Meanwhile, the president of the University of South California issued a statement on Tuesday after a swastika was drawn on the campus.
“I condemn any antisemitic symbols or any form of hate speech against anyone,” Carol Folt said.
“Clearly it was drawn there just to incite even more anger at a time that is so painful for our community. We’re going to work to get to the bottom of this immediately, and it has just been removed.”
Earlier, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said President Joe Biden believed students occupying buildings was “absolutely the wrong approach” and “not an example of peaceful protest”.
World
Georgia: Police use water cannon, tear gas and stun grenades to disperse protesters opposing ‘foreign agent’ bill
Police in Georgia’s capital have used water cannon, tear gas and stun grenades against crowds outside the country’s parliament protesting against a bill the opposition says aims to crack down on press freedoms.
The legislation being debated by parliamentarians will require media and non-commercial organisations to register as being under foreign influence if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.
Police used water cannon to disperse protesters. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the streets of Tbilisi on Tuesday to oppose the legislation.
Clashes erupted between security forces and protesters as they faced tear gas, water cannon and stun grenades.
Thousands gathered to oppose the legislation. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
Pic: AP
Reuters eyewitnesses saw some police officers physically attack protesters, who threw eggs and bottles at them, before deploying the tactics to force crowds from outside the parliament building, the news agency reported.
After being dispersed, thousands continued to block Tbilisi’s main Rustaveli Avenue, barricading it with cafe tables and rubbish bins. Some shouted “slaves” and “Russians” at police.
Clashes erupted between police and demonstrators. Pic: AP
Levan Khabeishvili, the leader of Georgia‘s largest opposition party, the United National Movement, posted an image on X with his face bloodied and sporting a black eye.
A party official told Reuters that Mr Khabeishvili was beaten by police after disappearing from central Tbilisi.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who is opposed to the bill and whose powers are mostly ceremonial, said in a post on X the crackdown had been “totally unwarranted, unprovoked and out of proportion” and that the protests had been peaceful.
Demonstrators sit in protest. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
The bill has heightened political divisions, setting the ruling Georgian Dream party against a protest movement backed by opposition groups, communities, celebrities and the figurehead president.
It is viewed by the opposition as authoritarian and bearing a resemblance to Russian anti-independent media legislation.
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Politicians brawl in parliament
Critics have labelled the divisive bill “the Russian law”, comparing it to Moscow’s “foreign agent” legislation which has been used to crack down on dissent there.
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Parliament endorsed the bill in the first reading earlier this month. It must pass two more readings before becoming law.
A protester holds up an EU flag. Pic: AP
Those opposed to the legislation see it as an impediment to Georgia’s long-sought prospects of joining the European Union.
EU officials have said it could halt Georgia’s progress towards integration with the bloc.
The UK has sent the first failed asylum seeker to Rwanda under a voluntary scheme.
The scheme is for those who have gone through the asylum process and had permission rejected, rather than for migrants who have illegally entered Britain by crossing the Channel on small boats.
The migrant was sent on a commercial flight and handed a fee from the British taxpayer to help relocate under the terms of a deal with Rwanda.
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According to The Sun, the man of African origin claimed asylum in the UK but was rejected at the end of last year. He then accepted the offer to go to Rwanda.
He left the UK on Monday.
This was not done using the powers set out in the Safety of Rwanda Act, but rather a parallel scheme that allows someone to choose to make the trip if their attempts to claim asylum in the UK fails.
And upon arrival in Kigali, the person is able to claim around £3,000 in UK taxpayer money as help.
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Migrants ‘will be found and removed’
The development was criticised by both the Labour Party and Reform UK director Nigel Farage.
Yvette Cooper, Labour’s shadow home secretary, said: “The Tories are so desperate to get any flight off to Rwanda before the local elections that they have now just paid someone to go.
“British taxpayers aren’t just forking out £3,000 for a volunteer to board a plane, they are also paying Rwanda to provide him with free board and lodgings for the next five years. This extortionate pre-election gimmick is likely to be costing on average £2m per person.
“Former Tory Home Office ministers warned that the government’s plan was just to get token flights off before a General Election. Now we know what they mean.”
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Rwanda plan: ‘What does success mean?’
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Former UKIP leader Mr Farage said: “Don’t be conned by this new government spin on the Rwanda deal.
“This African man, who did not even cross the Channel, was refused asylum and has voluntarily accepted £3,000 and free board.
“It won’t stop the boats.”
The government’s attempts to forcefully remove people to Rwanda were announced more than two years ago, but no one has been sent so far.
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Earlier this month, parliament passed the Safety of Rwanda Act, and the government hopes to get flights off the ground in nine to 11 weeks.
A government spokesperson said: “We are now able to send asylum seekers to Rwanda under our migration and economic development partnership.
“This deal allows people with no immigration status in the UK to be relocated to a safe third country where they will be supported to rebuild.”
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