DUBLIN: Ireland’s prime minister, Simon Harris, gave a formal state apology on Tuesday to the families of 48 young people who were unlawfully killed in a fire at a Dublin nightclub in 1981.

The victims — aged between 16 and 27 — died in the early hours of February 14, 1981, when fire engulfed the Stardust ballroom in Artane, a north Dublin suburb.

On Thursday a 12-person inquest jury reached a verdict of unlawful killing in each of the 48 cases.

“Today we say, formally and without any equivocation, we’re sorry,” Harris said in an address to the national parliament in the Irish capital.

In the immediate aftermath of what was the biggest fire tragedy in Ireland’s history, an inquiry found that the “probable” cause of the fire was arson — a finding rejected by families of the victims as it appeared to blame those attending the disco.

That ruling was dismissed in 2009 and after years of campaigning by the families, the then attorney general granted a fresh inquest in 2019. “We failed you when you needed us the most. From the very beginning we should have stood with you but instead we forced you to stand against us,” said Harris.