Family and friends of the Stardust victims will today mark the 43rd anniversary of the tragedy.

Some 48 young people died after a fire broke out at the Artane nightclub in the early hours of the morning on Valentine’s Day 1981.

There were around 800 people in the building at the time and dozens of the survivors were left with serious and life-changing injuries.

In the half-century since, family and friends of the victims have joined survivors in a tireless campaign for fresh inquests to find out what happened.

Those inquests finally began last April and over 370 witness accounts have now been heard.

Some 190 people gave evidence in-person before the jury, while accounts from a further 183 people were read into evidence.

The inquests have now reached their final stages before the jury begins considering its verdict.

File photo shows fire damage at the Stardust disco in Artane, Dublin in February 1981 | Image: PA/PA Archive/PA Images

Stardust Victims Committee spokesperson Antoinette Keegan previously told Newstalk the wait was a shameful reflection on successive governments.

“They treated us so inhumane, so disgraceful and I say again and again, shame on every successive government that has done this to us families,” she said.

“We did not deserve it. We never done anything on the Irish State and neither did our loved ones.”

Ms Keegan lost her sisters Mary and Martina in the tragedy and her mother Christine spent her life campaigning for justice.

Main image shows Anne Loughman who lost her sister in the Stardust fire looking at the Stardust anniversary memorial at Kilmore Road in Artane, 10-02-2024. Image: Leah Farrell/RollingNews