Families bereaved by the 1981 Stardust fire tragedy have appealed to the Government to fund the costs of undertaking DNA testing on five unidentified bodies, following the submission of a new pathologist report and body of evidence to the Government.
The cost of undertaking the specialist care works and micro-chrondrial DNA testing is expected to cost £43,365 (€63,226) according to estimates provided to the Stardust Victims Committee by the Birmingham Forensic Science Laboratory.
During protests outside the Department of Justice this week, Terry Kavanagh and Marion McCourt, whose brother Murtagh died in the Stardust fire, said the last 25 years had been "traumatising" as they have had no death certificate or graveside to recognise the passing of their brother.
"We feel it would respect his memory to have him identified," Ms McCourt said. "He and the other four victims shouldn't be disregarded any longer."
Eugene Kelly, whose brother Robert was one of the 48 victims of the St Valentine's Day fire, said yesterday it was now a priority of all families bereaved by the tragedy to help the five families acquire the necessary funding to undertake DNA testing.
"We want the Government to get to the bottom of this and put parents' minds at rest."
Meanwhile, the committee yesterday called on Minister for Justice Michael McDowell to launch a new inquiry into the tragedy which would consider eight minutes of "missing evidence".
A new pathologist report and body of evidence, prepared by independent experts and solicitors for the families of the Stardust victims, aims to establish how and where the fire started and to disprove the original tribunal findings which returned a verdict of "probable arson".