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JUSTICE MINISTER ALAN Shatter has ruled out any possibility that new legislation allowing for parliamentary inquiries will lead to a fresh examination of the circumstances surrounding the Stardust nightclub fire 32 years ago.
Shatter said that given there isn’t “any identified [new] evidence” it “would not be in the public interest” to establish an inquiry into the fire which killed 48 people and injured 214 on Valentine’s Night, 1981.
“No new information has been put forward which would warrant a departure from this conclusion,” Shatter said in a written answer last month.
Families have campaigned for decades for a fresh inquiry into the fire as they did not accept the original inquiry finding that the blaze in the north Dublin venue was probably started deliberately.
Labour TD Tommy Broughan had asked Shatter if in light of the recently-passed Houses of the Oireachtas Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures Act would he consider a parliamentary inquiry into the disaster.
Broughan cited the “the continued dissatisfaction of the families that the matter has not been fully investigated heretofore in view of new information that has come to their attention in the recent past”.
Shatter said that an independent examination of evidence presented by the Stardust Victims Committee in 2009 had found that there was no “new or other evidence capable of establishing the cause of the fire”.
“To establish a new inquiry for that purpose, in the absence of any identified evidence, would not be in the public interest. No new information has been put forward which would warrant a departure from this conclusion,” Shatter said.
The examination of evidence by barrister Paul Coffey four years ago found that due to the passage of time and lack of any physical evidence it would not be in the public interest for a new inquiry to be established.
Broughan also asked Shatter if he thought that all the recommendations contained in the Coffey report had been fulfilled particularly with regard to the “counselling and medical needs” of victims’ families.
Shatter said that arrangements to provide services to families have been in place since February 2010 and “this facility remains in place for those who wish to avail of it”.
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For the past decade The Government have had “a plan” to do this that and the other. When do one or any of these plans come to fruition?
@Benny McHale: what are you talking about?
Our government is super consistent, european governments should learn a thing or two from ours to be hones.
Their self pay rises and tax plans are always on time – literally next day and always come to fruition.
“Under the Housing for All plan, the government intends to retrofit half a million homes over the next decade”
“The plan also aims to create 300,000 new homes by 2030.”
They have a plan?
@G Row.: the cost of materials is going to put a stop to alot of builds this year, and the ones that will be build will be made of terrible quality because the only materials available the last 6 months are the worst iv seen in 20 years and the most expensive by a long way.
@Raymond Kelly: Totally agree. Friend of mine getting astronomical quotes to build a modest size house.
What percentage of that 18,047 were build to rents and or bought by vulture funds??
@M Bowe: Regardless of who owns them (which is an issue, I agree), the main thing is that they’re occupied. As long as we keep building new houses, surely that will at least mean everyone has somewhere to live, unless the population keeps increasing. If there is enough supply, prices will start to fall from falsely high levels. Only supply will really fix this. Help to buy and the likes only throws more fuel on the fire.
@M Bowe: And how many are built by the government and how many by public.
Construction should never have shut down during the lockdowns, it’s way too important.
The cost of building has gone through the roof , there’s surly a cheaper way to build accommodation, need to look abroad for ideas, we can’t be one of the dearest in the world the way things are going
@Gerard Heery: unfortunately the government let the construction sector down badly in the last recession which went on for nearly 10 years. It lost circa 66% of its workforce and turnover dropped from 37bn to 7bn (a normal turnover for a country our size would be circa 21bn). This was the time to build a children’s hospital, social homes, schools etc and keep those skills in ireland as well as keep young people entering construction via trades or professions. There is a dearth of labour and professional skills in the country now exacerbated by the covid restrictions when a lot of migrant Labour left for the uk or Europe where construction never stopped unlike here where we shut down twice. This migrant Labour won’t return, why should they when there is no security in the sector.
The other big cost increase in construction is due to the energy regulations and the green agenda carbon emissions driving up costs of fuel and ensuring every new home has mechanical ventilation and heating systems which cost a fortune to fit. What we are ending up with is smaller and smaller homes to try and be reasonably affordable.
Unfortunately the price of construction is going to keep increasing due to these and other restrictions in this country such as planning restrictions trying to force people to live in towns and cities which reduces the land available for building and drives up the price of this land.
We’re in mess and we better get used to it as it’s not going to change. We can but hope there have been lessons learned and the next time we have a recession that we won’t have an over bloated public sector wage bill and that the government will be able to borrow to keep construction going with public contracts.
@Anthony Guinnessy: I agree with much of this. I feel the government blamed construction workers for losing their jobs after the 2008 recession and the FG/Labour government decided that the solution was to create more office jobs and training courses where people were “upskilled” to work in office jobs, many of which never existed before computers were invented and have little obvious utility.
We have a situation now where construction labourers get paid more than a lot of people who do desk jobs but are still perceived as being lower class which deters young people from entering the profession and until this changes we’re going to continue having a housing crisis.
Anyone entering the carpenters of wet trades is not too bright , working in wet, cold ,heat ,no job security once you pass 50 you are unemployable , as then the body starts to hurt and they expect you to climb ladders and carry heavy loads into your late 60s. Get yer selves a nice pensionable job in the public or civil service.
@brendan o connell: not true. I’ve had many people north of 50 working for me and they are usually fit, healthy, strong people who do very well for themselves financially and enjoy working outdoors. Much better than riding a desk for life and being over weight, unfit, poor and depressed in your 50s. The trope you are peddling is the stigma that unfortunately does exist and turns a lot of people away from a career that would suit them more than any other.
@Anthony Guinnessy: reality is most tradesmen have permanent injuries from their work by 50.They go through financial down turns regularly. You see a lot more beer bellies on tradesmen and they often live poorly with terrible eating habits. They are an important part of the economy but so are those office jobs that create the demand for housing and offices.
I wouldn’t say tradesmen are dumb but they don’t tend to be into reading the classics.
@Anthony Guinnessy: I like your optimism but I am in this game over 40 years also had a number of apprentices trained now left the trade for more security and easier way of life ,I would never advise any you ng person to sign up for a life of hardship and insecurity.
Short of materials and of workers only think state can increase fast is printing of euros driveing up costs for every body. Maybe ask China build us lot flat pack houses
have your say