merrion street

‘The Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan, today (Tuesday) briefed Cabinet on the report by Judge McCartan of his independent assessment of the evidence presented to him by the Stardust Relatives and Victims Committee.
The report has been accepted by the Government and furnished to the Stardust Relatives and Victims’ Committee. The Minister has now made arrangements for the publication of the Report and for it to be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas, as the process was initiated on foot of a Dáil Motion in January.

Minister Flanagan stated:
“I would like to express my appreciation to Judge McCartan for his work on this report. The judge was nominated by the relatives as a person they trusted and I am grateful to him for his willingness to undertake this important public service.
“The Stardust Fire was undoubtedly one of the greatest tragedies in the history of this country and the Government considered it important to assess all available evidence, including any new material that may have come to light. Having carefully considered the two previous independent reports on the tragedy and considered all material made available to him, Judge McCartan concluded that no further new enquiry is warranted.
“I want to acknowledge the terrible pain and loss of the relatives of the victims and the fact that the report does not come to the conclusion that they would have wished for. This report by Judge McCartan is the third independent assessment of the available evidence and, while I understand that the pain of the relatives is compounded by the failure to discover the cause of the fire, this report concludes that no new enquiry is warranted.”

Note for editors:

A copy of the report will be available for download at justice.ie once it has been laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.