Stardust apology 'too late', says victim's brother
- Published
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 had been "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 大象传媒 Radio Foyle's North West Today programme that he personally did not think an apology 鈥渄oes anything鈥 and believed it had come too late.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very good but what鈥檚 it going to do? It鈥檚 not going to do anything really - It鈥檚 43 years too late for a start.
鈥淚 lost my only sister a long time ago, the grief passed and then all of this has all come back up again and brought back a lot of bad memories.鈥
Mr Morgan said his sister was a bubbly person who loved sport and was particularly passionate about football.
He said Susan was missed every single day and that her death had been devastating for their family.
鈥淭he family took it very badly. Susan was just 19 when she was killed,鈥 he explained.
鈥淚t was a terrible situation at that time because she couldn鈥檛 be identified.鈥
Mr Morgan said that Susan鈥檚 body could only be identified by the clothes she was wearing on the night of the fire by her friend Yvonne Graham.
Yvonne welcomed the taoiseach's apology, but questioned why it had taken this long.
'It won't bring her back'
Mr Morgan said that for many Stardust families the apology would be a welcome development but that many relatives, like his own parents, never lived to hear it.
鈥淭he apology could have come sooner, it could have come a lot sooner 鈥 43 years is a long time,鈥 he said.
鈥淚t came across very well but at the end of the day it does nothing 鈥 it won鈥檛 bring her back."
Mr Morgan said he holds "no more anger" over what happened.
鈥淭he anger is gone, no more anger, that anger is gone,鈥 he said.