Stardust disaster: How newspapers at the time did question 'The Big Lie’

An examination of press coverage at the time shows diligent questioning of the claim that arson caused the fire tragedy

How the newspapers covered the Stardust nightclub disaster in February 1981 and its aftermath

Jody Corcoran

It is instructive now to look back at the Dáil debates and newspaper reports at the time of the Stardust fire to examine what Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald described last week as “The Big Lie”.

As the Stardust families suffered, she said, that lie was already in motion, spreading as fast as the fire itself. The big lie was that the fire was caused by arson.