On Tuesday, the jury gathered for the 10th day of deliberations for the Stardust fire inquests. On Monday, Dr Myra Cullinane, the Dublin coroner, addressed the jury members – consisting of seven females and five males – stating she would discuss their “progress” and enquire about any “additional matters” that require further elucidation.
The jurors have spent around 36 hours deliberating over extensive evidence from a period of over 90 days, connected to the tragedy. Their duty is to deliver verdicts for the 48 individuals, aged 16 to 27, who tragically lost their lives in a blaze at a nightclub in north Dublin in the early hours of February 14th, 1981.
Their responsibility encompasses ascertaining the identity, date, location and cause of death for each individual whilst delivering verdicts rooted in the factual circumstances surrounding the fire. The types of verdicts at their disposal range from accidental death, misadventure, unlawful killing, to an open verdict or narrative verdict. They must also establish details about the fire itself.
After many years of pressure from families, the inquests were finally commenced in April 2023. Over the course of 122 days, 373 witnesses gave evidence, including establishment staff and management, patrons, onlookers, emergency services personnel, and experts in fire and pathology fields.
In the previous month, as she addressed the jury, Coroner Dr. Myra Cullinane stressed to jury members the importance of maintaining a “dispassionate” and “clinical” approach, and to set emotions aside. She added that there was no need to rush the decision making process.
When explaining the potential verdicts, she spent a considerable amount of time describing the constraints within which the jury may consider an unlawful killing verdict. She reminded them that despite testimony providing different versions of events or suggesting alternatives actions that could have been taken, they are not permitted, by law, to reach a conclusion which assigns criminal or civil liability to any person.