State Papers 1990: Plans for doctors who treated Stardust fire victims to advise Government opposed by Health Minister
Disaster By Dr I – Inhalation Specialised Were Said Psychological Some In Burns Sequelae “stardust Caused In Was Smoke A Physical Cases,” Injuries With And Fire E O’hanlon Very That
Plans to establish a small committee of doctors who had treated victims of the Stardust fire tragedy to advise the Government on the medical care of survivors of future disasters were opposed by the Minister for Health, Rory O’Hanlon, State papers have revealed.
Newly-released Government files from 1990 show the Minister for Justice, Ray Burke, had submitted a memo to the Government in December 1989 on the report of the Stardust Victims Compensation Tribunal which reviewed compensation awards for the victims of the fire at the Stardust nightclub in Artane on February 14, 1981, which resulted in the deaths of 48 people and injuries to over 200 individuals.
The Tribunal, which was chaired by Mr Justice Donal Barrington, had discovered that it was only as a result of the establishment of the compensation scheme that many victims of the fire were medically examined and treated by doctors for the first time.
Mr Burke noted that doctors were shocked in many cases to find that people who needed medical advice and treatment had been left without it for so many years.
As a result, the Tribunal had recommended that special provision needed to be made for the medical care of survivors of any future disaster and for monitoring their progress.
It proposed the establishment of a small committee of doctors who already had experience of treating Stardust victims in order to advise the Government on the future monitoring and medical treatment of disaster victims.
Mr Burke noted that various ministers had been consulted including the Minister for Finance, Albert Reynolds; the Minister for the Environment, Pádraig Flynn as well as the Attorney General, John Murray, who all had no issue with the proposal.
However, he noted that the recommendation on the establishment of a small committee of doctors familiar with the medical treatment of Stardust victims was “not favoured” by the Minister for Health, Rory O’Hanlon, who was also a doctor by profession.
“Stardust was a very specialised disaster in that physical injuries were caused by fire – i.e. burns and smoke inhalation with psychological sequelae in some cases,” said Dr O’Hanlon.
“Major disaster planning involves many more disciplines than were involved in Stardust,” he added.
Dr O’Hanlon said consultants involved in such disciplines also had considerable expertise from major rail accidents and ongoing experience with road traffic collisions.
“Major accident planning is updated after every major accident,” he observed.
The minister acknowledged that some doctors who had extensive involvement in the treatment of Stardust victims “would obviously be in a position to advise following any future disaster.” However, Dr O’Hanlon said he did not consider it necessary to set up a committee of such doctors on a formal basis.
He added: “Apart from other considerations it is now nearly nine years since the Stardust disaster and the present age of the practitioners might be relevant.” A total of 626 claims were made before r the original closing date for the compensation scheme in January 1986 with a further 327 added following the introduction of an extended deadline to June 1986.
Out of the 953 applications, 66 were refused while 64 were withdrawn.
Total compensation of almost IR£10.5m was paid to 823 individuals including 68 who were not present in the Stardust on the night of the fire but who suffered nervous shock or mental trauma because of the death or injury of family members.
In his report, Mr Justice Barrington remarked how struck the Tribunal members were by the devastation which the Stardust fire had on the local community in Artane.
“A particularly poignant aspect of the tragedy was the extreme youth of many of the victims,” the judge observed.
The tribunal noted that most victims had no family doctor and had received no medical treatment of any kind.
Mr Justice Barrington said many victims could not sleep and had become “cranky and difficult”, while many also suffered from enuresis [loss of bladder control].
Others had become heavy smokers and drinkers, while many suffered depression and a few had died by suicide.
Mr Justice Barrington said he believed the fruits of the general and specialist medical practitioners who had treated Stardust victims should not be lost.