A long-awaited inquest into the deaths of 48 people in a nightclub fire in Dublin will open later.
The blaze at the Stardust Ballroom in Artane in the north of the city occurred in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 1981. It was the worst fire disaster in the history of the Irish state.
The inquest is set to be the most extensive ever held in Ireland and could last up to six months, with around 350 witnesses potentially due to give evidence.
An original inquest in 1982 lasted just five days and recorded the cause of the deaths in accordance with medical evidence, with no reference to the circumstances or the cause of the fire.
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After a long campaign by the families, in 2019 then attorney general Seamus Woulfe directed that new inquests take place. An inquest jury was selected last week and is due to take place in Dublin’s Rotunda Hospital.
Families were gathering at the nearby Garden of Remembrance on Tuesday morning ahead of a planned march to the hearing venue. Day one of the inquest will see relatives of some of those who died read pen portraits to the jury members. - PA