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Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 18 Feb 1981

Vol. 95 No. 9

Artane (Dublin) Fire Tragedy.

I would like to place on record the sorrow which I know is deeply felt by every Member of the House at the tragic event which took place in Artane last weekend. The death of so many people would in any event have been an occasion of profound sorrow but the fact that they were so young and so full of life adds immeasurably to the anguish of the bereaved. Our heartfelt sympathy goes to the parents, families and friends of those who died. We hope that those who were injured will soon be restored to health, and to all who have suffered we offer our consolation and our prayers.

I am sure the Members of the House will join me in expressing admiration of the courageous efforts made by the members of the services and the members of the public to help those who were involved in the fire. Our appreciation is also due to those who rendered medical, spiritual and other assistance with such dedication and generosity during the days since the tragedy.

On behalf of the Fine Gael Party I wish to be associated with the Leader's words of sympathy on this tragedy. It is a cliché to say that words are inadequate on an occasion like this, but it is a cliché that has to be used because the sheer level and extent of the tragedy has overwhelmed everybody and rendered words inadequate. If one can say that there are dimensions or degrees of tragedy, this one is a tragedy to the greatest degree, possibly because of the age grouping of the victims which adds an element of poignancy to this unique tragedy. Those who are parents with children of the age group of the victims have a greater sense of vicarious sympathy on this occasion and in many other tragic circumstances. Likewise, too, we share the Leader's admiration for the rescue services and the heroic work that went into alleviating the tragedy and the distress.

On behalf of the Labour group I join in the expressions of deep condolence and sympathy to the families and friends of those young people who were killed, maimed and injured in the Stardust tragedy last Saturday morning. The sad toll has risen to 45 today. As has been said, words are inadequate to describe the sense of desolation and loss in the immediate communities affected, still less to capture the inexpressible grief of the families concerned. We hope by our expressions in this House that we may be of some consolation and support to those families and to the local communities and that by our prayers and solidarity we may help them over this very bleak time.

Words will not be enough. The best way to express our real compassion is to face up to and meet the responsibility for ensuring that there cannot be a recurrence of this type of incident. We will have an opportunity in this House to show the real level of our compassion by taking the necessary measures to improve safeguards and to strengthen fire prevention, both in public places and in housing developments in our towns and cities. At a time when we are expressing our sympathy and joining in thanking and commending those who performed such valiant services on behalf of those people, we must also in this House face the political responsibility as a matter of urgency because that is a measure of our true compassion.

I should like to add my support to those three votes of sympathy and also to second the sentiments that Senator Robinson has voiced. One of the things that struck us most in relation to this dreadful holocaust was the vulnerability and the value of human life. Human life has been treated cheaply in certain areas of this island for political and other reasons and the death of these young people in that dreadful gratuitous accident galvanised our minds into thinking how valuable life is, particularly the lives of those young people who were cut off even before they had come within sight of fulfilling their potential and their promise as human beings.

There are certain irremedial areas of our national life where we cannot really bring to bear our energies, dedication or ingenuity to alter the destruction of life, but in areas such as this we have to show the depth of our commitment and our sincerity. It is only the grace of God that has prevented hundreds of such accidents in the past. We have been negligent in regard to such matters as fire regulations where people go about their business and about their legitimate pleasures. I hope that this great tragedy will rivet our minds onto that problem and that we will witness a very sincere effort on the part of all our authorities to see that nothing of that kind takes place in the future.

Members rose in their places.

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