Hearing adjourned on new Stardust inquiry

A HEARING to decide if there should be a fresh inquiry into the 1981 Stardust nightclub inferno in north Dublin which caused the deaths of 48 young people has been adjourned.q

Paul Coffey SC, who was appointed by the Government to conduct the hearing, has heard new evidence in private over three days at the Bar Council's Distillery Building in Dublin from experts for the families of the victims.

The evidence is aimed at displacing the 1981 Keane tribunal finding the fire was "probably" the result of arson. At the conclusion of the evidence yesterday, Mr Coffey adjourned the hearing for two weeks when he will hear legal submissions as to whether the evidence renders the probable arson finding unsafe and warrants a new inquiry. After the submissions, he will consider what he has heard and the families anticipate a decision within weeks.

Greg O'Neill, solicitor for the families, said the submissions will address the legal tests necessary to displace the 1981 tribunal finding.

He said it was the families' case their expert evidence indicated the fire did not start in a seating area in the west alcove of the premises but probably instead related to combustible material in the roof space.