The family of Caroline Carey who was killed in the Stardust disaster in 1981 asked that her unborn baby be included in an apology to the Dáil today, an Taoiseach has said.
Simon Harris, read out the names and ages of each of the victims of the deadly fire, and told the Dáil that the family of Ms Carey (17), who was pregnant when she died, had asked that include her baby as the 49th victim.
Ms Carey’s sister Maria had previously said that three weeks before Caroline’s death, she had told her family that she was expecting a baby.
“Forty years ago, teenage pregnancy was a taboo subject. My parents were devastated at the news but put their arms around her and assured her everything would be fine,” said Maria.
“We were a bit like the Snapper family but not quite as mad. Caroline knew that she had the full support and love of her parents and siblings and was looking forward to the birth of her baby, but it was not to be.”
She told the Independent that Caroline’s baby would now be forty years of age and could have children of their own.
Lisa Lawlor arriving for the Taoiseach’s State apology with 49 roses. One for each victim of the Stardust fire and for Caroline Carey’s unborn baby. #stardust pic.twitter.com/fRSkXYPavW
— Stephanie Rohan (@StephGrogan3) April 23, 2024
Today, an Taoiseach apologised “unreservedly” to families and victims of the Stardust. An inquest last week found that the victims had been unlawfully killed in the disaster, the worst loss of life from fire in the history of the State.
“Today we say formally and without any equivocation we’re sorry. We failed you when you need us the most,” he said.
“We failed you when you needed us the most. From the very beginning. We should have stood with you. But instead, we forced you to stand against us”.
“Forty-eight young people lost their lives in the Stardust disaster. Many more were injured and even more still had their lives broken and shattered forever,” he told the Dáil as the Stardust families sat in the public gallery.
Referring to the inquest findings last Thursday he said: “I truly hope that the days since last Thursday have marked a turning point and here today in Dáil Éireann, we finally begin to put things right to bring you in from the cold and end the neglect of 43 years’ waiting and fighting for the only thing you ever wanted – the truth.”
“The families gathered here today and their loved ones who perished, the family members who are no longer with us, and all those who suffered horrific injuries were the victims of a mass tragedy, ” and Taoiseach said.
“In such shattering circumstances, the most basic expectation must surely be that the State comes to the aid of its citizens and supports them in the terrible aftermath.
“We should have offered counselling, we should have provided answers, and we should have ensured the truth came out.”
“Instead, it is to our great and eternal shame that far from the warm embrace of a caring State, the Stardust family experienced a cold shoulder, a deaf ear and two generations of struggle for truth and justice,” he said.
“Instead, it is to our great shame that State processes heaped misery upon tragedy for the Stardust families,” the Taoiseach said.
“For all of this, as Taoiseach, on behalf of the State, I apologise unreservedly to all the families of the Stardust victims and all the survivors for the hurt that was done to them and for the profoundly painful years of struggle for the truth.
“I apologise to the families that those present on the night of the fire were wrongly criminalised through the allegation of arson which was an attack on their reputations,” he added.
“These bereaved families should never have had to walk alone, we should have been by your side, we should have worked with you, we were not, we did not.”
“And for that, we are truly sorry,” the Taoiseach said.
There was a standing ovation for the families as Leas Cheann Comhairle Catherine Connolly TD welcomed them to the Dáil.
In full: the State apology delivered to the families of the 48 Stardust victims, by Taoiseach Simon Harris in Dáil Éireann. @virginmedianews pic.twitter.com/TgWqV5hv1K
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) April 23, 2024
“I know there have been many, many times when you thought this day would never come over far too many, many years,” Simon Harris said to the Stardust victims and families in the Dáil.
“I know that you were forced to endure a living nightmare, which began when your loved ones were so cruelly snatched from you in a devastating fire. Their unfinished stories became your story.
“The defining story of your lives and the lives of your parents and other family members who left this life before ever seeing justice.
I am deeply sorry that you were made to fight for so long that they went to their graves never knowing the truth.
“Today we say formally and without any equivocation – We are sorry. We failed you when you needed us the most,” the Taoiseach said.