A DECISION by Dublin City Council to allow the construction of 178 apartments and houses and a hotel on the site of the Stardust nightclub in Artane has been appealed to An Bord Pleanála.
Next month marks the 30th anniversary of the Stardust fire, in which 48 people died. Relatives of the victims continue to seek a criminal investigation of the fire and a State apology after the original verdict of arson as its cause was found to be without evidence.
The relatives, local residents, city councillors and TDs, including Fine Gael’s Terence Flanagan and Fianna Fáil’s Michael Woods and Seán Haughey, had objected to the city council against the plans by Patrick Butterly Sons Limited, owners of the site. However, the development was approved by the council last month.
Labour city councillor Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanála against the council’s decision, which he said would scupper any possibility of the site being protected as a memorial to the victims.
The application makes provision for a memorial garden in the development but this was just tokenism, Mr Ó Ríordáin added, adding there were also strong planning grounds for rejecting the application.
