Simon Harris said the meeting with families and survivors at Government Buildings on Saturday was ‘humbling and emotional’
Families of the victims of the Stardust at Government Buildings meeting Taoiseach Simon Harris. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill/The Irish TimesMr Harris will also issue a State apology to them in the Dáil on Tuesday, which families have been invited to attend. It is understood the 48 names of the victims will also be read out in the Dáil chamber.
“I have listened closely to everything the families told me and as Taoiseach, I have today apologised unreservedly to each family. I will do so on behalf of the State on Tuesday next.” “They were real people, they weren’t numbers, like they were in 1981 and 1982,” Ms Keegan said. “They were bagged and tagged for 43 years. This inquest has opened a big chapter for us. They’ve gotten their identity back, they’ve got their good name back.”
Carole Barrett, who lost her brother Michael, said the meeting had gone well but that the Dáil apology had to be robust, meaningful and transparent. “The first position is that the apology has to be right,” he said. “We have to have reconciliation if we move to the next stage. The reality is at this stage there needs to be a formal recognition of what the apology says, what it looks like and the contents of the apology must be approved. Then we move to the next stage.”
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