Liam Herrick: Stardust inquests show the urgent need for reform of coroner system
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While justice for the victims of the Stardust fire may never be fully realised, the conclusion of the long-running inquest and Taoiseach Simon Harris's apology in the Dáil represented an important step.
The outcome of the Stardust inquests, after 43 years, represents an enormous victory for the families who have struggled for an official recognition of the truth of what happened in the early hours of February 14, 1981. The State apology offered by the Taoiseach acknowledged that obstruction and intransigence by successive governments had compounded the terrible grief of the bereaved families.
The tragedy of Stardust lies not just in the appalling and avoidable loss of so many young lives but also in the continued violation of the rights of the victims through the denial of truth and justice over four decades. The words of political leaders must now be followed by action on the outstanding issues of accountability, memorialisation and appropriate compensation.
We have heard much about learning the lessons of the past and a crucial function of inquests is to make recommendations for the future. The key question now is, will the legal and political systems learn the wider lessons of the Stardust tragedy?
It is important to recognise that these were not ordinary inquests.
In the first instance, after lengthy negotiations between the Government and the families, a special allocation of resources to the Dublin Coroner allowed for comprehensive inquests of over 10 months’ duration in a suitable space at the Rotunda Hospital. This empowered Dr Myra Cullinane to conduct the inquests hearings with compassion and diligence, as was widely recognised by the Stardust families and everyone who attended.
Credit must also go to the jury members, who dedicated so much of their time to the administration of justice and clearly took great care and attention in fulfilling their legal responsibilities. It is also worth noting that the Government brought forward special legislation to ensure the jury for this inquest, and only this inquest, would be selected randomly as in court trials, rather than being selected by An Garda Síochána as is the usual practice at inquests.
Crucially, the families insisted on and secured substantial legal aid support to allow effective representation throughout the process. While Ireland’s civil legal aid system allows for the possibility of legal aid for families at inquests, it is the exception rather than the rule.
The Stardust families were advised and supported throughout the process by a legal team including Belfast firm Phoenix Law. In recent years, inquests in Northern Ireland have played a key role in relation to historic human rights violations.
That unique measures were put in place for the Stardust inquests reinforces the fact that effective procedures are the exception rather than the norm. While the current Government is to be congratulated for finally supporting an effective investigation into Stardust, in doing so it also chose not to reform inquest jury selection generally and it remains resistant to wider legal representation of families at inquests.
In 2021, ICCL published a research report led by Professor Phil Scraton which examined the current state of our system of coroners inquests through the lens of international human rights standards and incorporating the experiences of bereaved families. We heard from many families who, like the Stardust families, were faced with obstruction and re-traumatisation through the inquest process.
What they have experienced is markedly different from the recent revised Stardust process. The tragedy for all these families is that the shortcomings of the system have been known for a generation and should have been addressed long before now.
In 2000, a working group appointed by the Department of Justice to conduct a full review of Ireland’s coroner system recommended a radical overhaul, including the establishment of a national full-time coroner service. Despite piecemeal changes over the intervening years, the key deficiencies in the system remain.
We urgently need a full-time national coroner service, with sufficient training, support staff and oversight to ensure consistent standards across the country. Coroners’ independence should be guaranteed so that they can conduct their own investigations.
Juries must remain central to the process and must be fully independent of all State agencies. Critically, we must ensure that families are fully supported through the process, including through timely information provision about all aspects of the inquest and with access to legal aid.
As the country digests the outcome of the Stardust inquests, the continuing importance of inquests as instruments of truth and justice was reaffirmed last week by the inquest into the tragic death of Aoife Johnston at University Hospital Limerick. The evidence and verdict in that inquest powerfully disclosed appalling conditions and failures in our health system, shining a light on continuing State failures to vindicate the right to life.
Late last year, the Department of Justice began a consultation process for coronial reform. The establishment of a national coroners service and system of inquests which is fit for purpose and respects the rights and needs of all bereaved families would be a fitting legacy to the heroic Stardust families. The time for this much-needed reform is now.
- Liam Herrick Executive Director, Irish Council for Civil Liberties