THE families and loved ones of those who died in the Stardust nightclub tragedy will meet President Michael D Higgins this week.
Roughly 150 people will attend a reception at Áras an Uachtaráin tomorrow to honour the memory of the 48 people who died when a fire broke out at the Dublin nightclub in the early hours of February 14, 1981.
A ceremony of commemoration for the victims, survivors and all those affected by the Stardust fire was held on June 23.
President Higgins laid a wreath in the Garden of Remembrance on behalf of the people of Ireland during that event, which followed the conclusion of the inquests into each of the 48 deaths earlier this year.
On April 18, the jury in the inquests returned a verdict of ‘unlawful killing’ for each of those who died.
The families of the Stardust victims met with Taoiseach Simon Harris in AprilDays later Taoiseach Simon Harris delivered a State apology to the families of those who died.
“I know there have been many, many times when you thought this day would never come over far too many years,” he said.
“I know that you were forced to endure a living nightmare, which began when your loved ones were so cruelly snatched from you in a devastating fire," he added.
“Their unfinished stories became your story. The defining story of your lives and the lives of your parents and other family members who left this life before ever seeing justice.
“I am deeply sorry that you were made to fight for so long that they went to their graves never knowing the truth.”
