The families of the 48 people who died in the Stardust fire are seeking a meeting with British ska band The Specials, who performed at the Artane venue just one month before the 1981 tragedy.
The legendary band, whose hits include Ghost Town and Concrete Jungle , will be in Dublin next month to play a sold-out gig at Trinity College on July 2. Speaking to Dublin Live, survivor Antoinette Keegan - who lost her sisters Mary, 19, and Martina, 16, in the Stardust fire - said that they are hopeful that they can get in contact with The Specials.
A number of people who were at the gig in 1981 later told gardai they saw “sparks” in the ceiling during the performance.
Read more: Stardust survivors 'thrilled' as legislation brought forward to pay jurors
Ms Keegan said: "We want to see if they can remember anything at all from the night they were in the Stardust, even something at the thing they didn't think to be important could be significant to us in the lead up to what happened on February 13 and 14. My sister Lorraine wanted to go see The Specials the night they performed in the Stardust but my dad said no, and she is still a fan all these years later.
"We would really appreciate if they could contact us."
A number of people who were at the gig later told gardai they saw “sparks” in the ceiling during the The Specials performance the month before the tragedy. Antoinette said that the families are "hoping and praying" that The Specials will get in contact and agree to meet them.
There were 48 people killed and over 200 people injured in a fire at the Stardust nightclub on 14 February 1981. Ms Keegan said she is hopeful that the full inquest hearings into the tragedy will go ahead in September, with a preliminary hearing taking place on July 21.
She said: "On July 21 is the next preliminary hearing for the inquest, it'll be the first time me and my family won't be there because my mother is being presented with the Spirit of Mother Jones Award in Cork."
Her late mother, Christine Keegan, campaigned for many years to get an inquest into the deaths of her two daughters at the Stardust fire. She sadly passed away in 2020.
There was recently a breakthrough in a dispute between the Stardust families and the Department of Justice over payments for inquest jury members, with legislation brought in to pay the jurors for their service.
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