Martina Devlin: Families just wanted to find out the truth – that wasn’t too much to ask, was it?

Memorial at the site of the Stardust Nightclub in Artane, Dublin. Photo: Collins

Martina Devlin

In February 1981, my father-in-law had his first burglar alarm put in. The man installing it arrived with a young apprentice who was in some discomfort and kept having to stop work to cough up a soot-black substance. The poor boy hacked and spluttered but kept going – it turned out he had been at the Stardust on the night of the fire.

Just the name of the venue, synonymous with tragedy and grief, sent a chill through the room. But that stoical Dubliner, clearly back working before he was fit, was among the lucky ones who had gone to the Artane nightclub and survived the inferno.