The proceedings at the Stardust fire inquests will be a new inquiry and will not be a review linked to any previous probe, a coroner has insisted.
The preliminary hearing into the 48 deaths – described as one of the largest losses of life in the history of the State – took place yesterday.
Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane said full inquests into the deaths in the Stardust nightclub in Artane, Dublin, on St Valentine’s night 1981 are expected to begin next year.
The families and loved ones of the victims had earlier gathered outside Dublin Coroner’s Court to mark the beginning of the judicial process.
Solicitor Darragh Mackin of Phoenix Law, who is a legal representative for 44 families at the inquests, said he was pleased by the inclusion of so-called pen portraits of the victims.
The prepared statements will enable family members to describe their deceased loved one and the impact their death has had.
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