John Gallagher SC has been appointed by the Government to examine the case for a new inquiry into the Stardust bar fire of 1981.
Mr Gallagher will independently examine the report, Nothing but the Truth, which was submitted to the Government by the Stardust victims committee. The organisation has said that it does not accept the findings of an original inquiry into the fire, which claimed 48 lives and injured more than 200 people.
In a statement released last night, the Government said that Mr Gallagher's examination would be an "external, independent" one.
On Wednesday, the families of victims of the fire had given the Taoiseach 48 hours to make such a nomination.
They said that if he failed to do so before 10am today, they would picket Mr Ahern's constituency office every day until the general election and polling stations on voting day.
The families had criticised the delay over the appointment, saying that "the promise of an independent, eminent legal person was made on December 15th last, and it is is almost four months now".
Antoinette Keegan, spokeswoman for the families, had said that two names put forward by them had been rejected by the Department of the Taoiseach, while one name put forward by the department had been rejected by the families.
It look like the department was playing "tit-for-tat", Ms Keegan said.
The families have refused to accept the findings of the original inquiry, chaired by former chief justice Ronan Keane, which found that the fire was probably deliberate arson started by persons unknown.
