A fire broke out at the Stardust nightclub in Dublin on Valentine’s Day 1981
The Justice for the 48 campaign is seeking a second inquest into the blaze at the Stardust disco in Artane, Dublin, on St Valentine’s Day 1981.
The families are being supported by the Bloody Sunday Trust through the Derry Model, an EU-funded initiative set up to help resolve conflict, build peace and support justice campaigns.
Three of the 48 who perished in the blaze were from the North of Ireland: Susan Morgan from Derry, and Robert Hillock and James Millar from Twinbrook in west Belfast.
Antoinette Keegan barely survived the disaster, but her sisters Mary and Martina, along with Martina’s boyfriend, perished in the inferno.
Ms Keegan said she feels confident they will get the probe they are seeking thanks to the help of the Bloody Sunday Trust.
“The support and assistance we have had in our campaign from the Bloody Sunday families cannot be underestimated,” she said.
“And we are feeling optimistic that we will get the inquest that will release the truth about what really happened in the Stardust that night.
“I lost my two sisters, who were just 16 and 19, and I was left so badly injured I was on life support for two weeks.”
A tribunal the year after the blaze chaired by Justice Ronan Keane was labelled flawed by many, and the conclusion was contested by the victims’ families.
He concluded the cause was probably arson.
In 2009 an independent examination into the tribunal reported there was no evidence to support Justice Keane’s finding that the fire was started deliberately near the ballroom of the nightclub.
Ms Keegan added: “The truth has been hidden from us by successive governments but we are determined now, and we will not stop until we have the inquest we are looking for.
“The family of Susan Morgan has been in touch with us, but we would like to get in touch with the families of James Millar and Robert Hillock.
“We know they were from Twinbrook, but we would love to meet up with them when we are in Derry for the Bloody Sunday commemorations.”
Maeve McLaughlin, manager of the Derry Model initiative, said there was a lot the Bloody Sunday Trust could do to assist the Stardust families.
The interior of the destroyed Stardust Nightclub.
“They’ve had a series of promises from different administrations over the years that they would take up their cases, but nothing was ever done in consultation with the families.
“As part of the Derry Model, we brought them to the city to look at ways the Bloody Sunday families could support them in their campaign, which is now very clearly focused on a new inquest.”
As part of the commemorations, the Justice for the 48 campaign films will be screened.
