Stardust apology ’43 years too late’, says victim’s brother

The brother of a woman who died in the Stardust fire has said an apology by the Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Simon Harris has come “43 years too late”.

On Tuesday, Mr Harris said families who lost loved ones were “failed by the state”, as he read out an apology in the Dail (lower house of the Irish Parliament).

Forty-eight young people died in the blaze at the Stardust nightclub in Artane, north Dublin, on Valentine’s night in 1981.

Mr Harris said the Stardust families had been “forced to endure a living nightmare”.

“We say formally and without any equivocation we are sorry. We failed you when you needed us the most,” he said.

Last week, a jury in the inquest into the fire found the victims had been unlawfully killed.

On Saturday, more than 70 survivors and relatives met Mr Harris at Government Buildings in Dublin.

The brother of Londonderry woman Susan Morgan, Terry Morgan, told BBC Radio Foyle’s North West Today programme that he personally did not think an apology “does anything” and believed it had come too late.