BREAKING: Stardust inquest jury reaches verdict of unlawful killing for all 48 victims

Over four decades after the biggest disaster of its kind in the history of the State, an inquest jury has found that all 48 of the young people who died in the Stardust nightclub fire were unlawfully killed.

The 12-person jury reached majority verdicts in all cases of those who died in the fire at the Artane nightclub 43 years ago.

After deliberating for eleven days over three weeks, the panel of seven women and five men returned to the Pillar Room at the Rotunda Hospital (where the court has been sitting since April 2023) this afternoon to deliver their majority findings and verdicts to Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane.

The jury has found that the fire started in the hot press in the main bar, and was caused by an electrical fault. Carpet tiles on the walls of the Stardust contributed to the spread of the fire.

The jury also found that at the time the fire broke out, exits in the Stardust were locked, chained, or obstructed, blocking the way out for those trapped inside.

These findings are in stark contrast to the original 1982 Keane Tribunal finding, that ruled the fire was "probably caused deliberately". That conclusion, which was been contested by families and friends of the victims since the fire, was struck from the record in 2009, although it still lingered for many.

More than 90 days of evidence and testimony from over 350 witnesses was heard at the inquiry into the deaths at Stardust Ballroom, aged 16 to 27, in a fire in the north Dublin on the morning of 14th February 1981. Five verdicts were available — accidental, misadventure, unlawful killing, open verdict and narrative.

The jury recommended that there should be regular reviews of the building regulations and they also recommended fire safety of all venues annually as opposed to the current target of 70pc every two years.

Those in court got to their feet and applauded the jury once the verdict was read out. Dr Myra Cullinane said they were the longest running inquests in the history of the State and that the jurors had stood outside their normal lives to attend court.

Cullinane said they had heard very difficult testimony. She also said she wanted to acknowledge the relatives' ongoing grief and said the holding of the inquests was in no small part down to their persistence.

The passage of time did not diminish the horror of the evidence they heard, the coroner said. Cullinane commended the jury for stepping outside their own lives for a year and said they did a great act of public service.

More than 150 family members of those who died packed the emotionally-charged courtroom, as they hoped the hear the news they had fought long and hard for.