LAST UPDATE | 19 Apr
JIMMY O’MEARA WAS 21 when his 23-year-old brother, Brendan O’Meara, perished in the fire at at the Stardust nightclub in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 1981.
In the aftermath of the fire – amid the heartbreak, grief, and shock that the O’Meara family experienced – they also learned that Brendan had managed to get out of the nightclub, but went back in several times to try and help save others.
The last time he went back in, he didn’t come back out.
“We were proud of him, we’re still proud,” Jimmy said through tears outside of the room where the inquest sat, after learning that the jury had returned a verdict of unlawful killing for how his brother and the other 47 victims who died over forty years ago.
Jimmy, now 65, works as a gardener, so he wasn’t able to come to every day of the inquest, which was the longest running in the history of the Irish state.
Jimmy, 65, says he finally has justice for his brother Brendan O’Meara who was killed in the stardust fire aged 23. Jimmy said there were times he thought this day would never come. Brendan’s niece Susan said today’s unlawful killing verdict was the best they could have hoped for pic.twitter.com/XCRtbJ9PcB
— Eimer McAuley (@eimer_mcauley) April 18, 2024
“I didn’t expect that verdict, but I never lost hope, but it’s been difficult, the hardest year of our lives,” he said.
Brendan’s niece, Susan, said that the verdict meant that Brendan, after 43 years, has “finally gotten justice”.
“We’ll go out to his grave now, after this.”
Brigid McDermott is 87-years-old. Her three children William (22) George (18) and Marcella (16) were killed in the Stardust fire.
Brigid was present today, and was overcome with emotion when the verdict was read out.
Brigid McDermott, 87, the mother of George, William and Marcella, three siblings who lost their lives in the Stardust fire, said she never lost hope that this day would come. pic.twitter.com/coVJ6MDsfo
— Eimer McAuley (@eimer_mcauley) April 18, 2024
Her grandson Conor told The Journal:
“You can’t really put this into words. To see these guys, my family, and other families fighting so long, it is inspiring but it’s also sad.
“We’re meant to live in a nation that has justice and morality, to see my grandmother wait until now to get justice is heartbreaking, but it’s finally here”.
A cheer from the families for their legal teams, the jury, the coroner and the late RTE journalist Charlie Byrd. Emotional scenes. pic.twitter.com/dsjABTrGf2
— Eimer McAuley (@eimer_mcauley) April 18, 2024
“To see the smile on my grandmother’s face, the tears of joy, it was emotional. I am so proud of her,” Brigid McDermott’s grandson said.
“She is overwhelmed today and she keeps praying, she keeps talking about the need for the truth, and we got the truth today … we are over the moon,” he added.
Conor never got to meet his two uncles and aunt, but they have had a huge impact on his life.
“Growing up as a kid, their names were always there at family parties, in our houses, they’ve always been there, even though I never met them,” Conor said about Marcella, William and George.
Gertrude Barrett’s son Michael was killed in the Stardust fire. Just 17-years-old and an apprentice plumber, he was working there as an assistant DJ that night.
“They got justice, and more so, the truth was told, because in the Keane Tribunal of 1981, that sat for 122 days, and concluded with probable arson, that meant my son had the potential to be an arsonist, and that was left to his mammy to right.
“To give him back his character and his good name with a pen portrait, because up until then he was a number 38. Well that was up to his mammy to right, and that’s me, and I did it.
I’ve been on a mission since the night I ran out looking for him and I never ever doubted this day would come.
She said that it is terrible that the families have been forced to go to such lengths to seek justice.
“There’s no words, to look for a public apology, after those children perished we families have been systematically abused on an ongoing daily basis. Until today.
“Today is for Michael and those who perished. My life won’t change. I’m 80, but today is for them.”
Speaking to reporters after the verdict was delivered, Darragh Mackin, a solicitor representing most of the victims’ families said that they were “never going to give up” in their search for justice.
When asked by The Journal what the next step is for the families, Mackin said they were calling on the Government to apologise.
Speaking in the wake of the verdicts yesterday Taoiseach Simon Harris said the Government will consider the verdicts and the recommendations of the jury in full.
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