Families and friends bereaved by the Stardust tragedy turned out to protest against the official opening of a public house on the grounds of the nightclub last night.
The Silver Swan pub in Artane, Dublin, which has remained closed since its owners attempted to reopen it on the 25th anniversary of the fire tragedy in February, last night opened amid a peaceful protest by members of the Stardust Victims' Committee.
At the interim transfer of the pub licence in Dublin District Court last month, the new licence-holder Jason Gamble offered to arrange a memorial to the 48 victims of the Stardust fire and to change the pub's name back to Skelly's Lounge.
Last night, Antoinette Keegan, a spokeswoman for the Stardust Victims' Committee, said the pub should never have been called the Silver Swan because that was the name of the bar originally adjoining the Stardust nightclub.
"We don't want any entertainment here where 48 people died . . . Changing the name or arranging a memorial won't be enough to stop this protest," said Ms Keegan. Her mother, Christine Keegan, whose two daughters Mary and Martina died in the nightclub fire, said she was extremely disappointed.
"He [Mr Gamble] said he would change the name of the pub before opening, but he chose not to. He obviously has no respect for the 48 people who died in there and for my two daughters who were burnt to a cinder," said Ms Keegan.
Stardust survivor Madeline Martin, who briefly entered the new pub last night, said she would be content to simply see its name changed.