Jury in Stardust inquests retires for the day

The jury in the Stardust inquests has adjourned for the day and will resume their deliberations on Thursday.

It will be the seventh day the seven women and five men will consider their verdicts.

The inquests into the deaths of 48 people after a fire in Artane, north Dublin began in April last year and have heard evidence from 373 people.

The fire broke out in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 1981.

The new inquests, which are the longest held in Ireland, are closer to completion following months of evidence.

On Wednesday afternoon, the jury put three questions to the coroner for clarification.

One was in relation to a questionnaire about the circumstances of the fire, which the jury is to complete as part of their deliberations.

The jury asked the coroner about the definition of standards that applied at the time of the Stardust disaster.

The jury also asked that, when answering the yes-no questions as set out in the questionnaire, whether a “yes” answer implied failure, breach or wrongdoing.

Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane told the jury that an answer will be given on Thursday morning ahead of their deliberations.

She then retired the jury for the day.

An original inquest in 1982 lasted just five days and recorded the cause of deaths in accordance with medical evidence, with no reference to the circumstances or the cause of the fire.

After a long campaign by the victims’ families, in 2019 then-attorney general Seamus Woulfe directed that new inquests should take place.