Derry campaigners to support Stardust bid

The ‘Justice for the 48’ families will also be joined on the day by legendary Irish singer, Christy Moore, who has long since supported the campaign into the 1981 Dublin nightclub fire that left 48 young people dead, including Derry teen Susan Morgan, and hundreds injured.

Bloody Sunday relatives are among those travelling to Dublin on Tuesday to show their support. John Kelly, former chairperson of the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign, said: “After meeting the Stardust families recently at the Museum of Free Derry and listening to their heart-breaking stories of how their loved ones died, it’s only right that we show support in their quest for answers as we have done with many campaigns and families over the years.

“It’s ironic that, during our campaign, the Irish government was steadfast in its support for the Bloody Sunday families and, yet, now they show little support for these families who are simply trying to achieve truth and justice for their loved ones.”

Bereaved families and survivors of the Stardust tragedy distributed 48,000 postcards in this latest campaigning move – 1,000 for every life lost in the nightclub fire – which they will deliver to the government this Tuesday.

Stardust families and survivors were in Derry recently to highlight their campaign as part of the Bloody Sunday Trust’s ‘Derry Model’ project, a Peace IV peace programme.

Investigations in 1981 ruled arson was to blame for the nightclub tragedy, a theory rejected by families and survivors who felt it cast suspicion on all those present. A 2009 inquiry later ruled out the arson theory.