The Chief Minister has revealed no official request has yet been made to hold a fresh inquest into the Summerland fire.

Campaign group Justice for Summerland called for a fresh inquest last year following a Dublin jury ruling in April 2024 that 48 people were ‘unlawfully killed’ in a nightclub fire in 1981.

They say there were similarities to the Isle of Man tragedy in which 50 people died in the blaze at the leisure centre in 1973.

An initial inquest three months after the fire raised a number of safety concerns with some doors locked, the fire alarms failing, staff not trained for such an event and concerns about the use of the material ‘oroglas’ as the acrylic sheeting in the building.

But an inquest the following year returned a verdict of ‘death by misadventure’.

The ‘Stardust’ nightclub fire in Dublin was started by an electrical fault, with emergency exits being locked when they shouldn’t have been.

The inquest, which was the longest running and largest in the Republic of Ireland’s history, was held at Dublin City Coroner's Court last year.

At this week’s sitting of the House of Keys, Douglas East MHK Joney Faragher asked Chief Minister Alf Cannan whether consideration is being given to seeking a new inquest into the deaths at Summerland.

In response, Mr Cannan said: ‘On May 20, 2024 the Attorney General received a letter from a law firm confirming that they had been instructed on behalf of a number of victims who had lost loved ones in the tragedy of 1973.

He said that, within that letter, it stated that they intended to make a substantive application asking for a new inquest in the coming weeks.

But Mr Cannan said: ‘This week the Attorney General has confirmed to me he has not received an application to hold a new inquest for the Summerland fire.

‘The Attorney General would, of course, give his full consideration to such a request at the time should one be received.’

Ms Faragher asked the Chief Minister, in light of the ruling that the Stardust victims were ‘unlawfully killed’, was there not now compelling evidence to hold a new inquest which would be ‘compassionate, listening leadership’?

Mr Cannan said it was not for him to make such judgements and any move to hold a fresh inquest was in the hands of the Attorney General.

In response to the Stardust inquest verdict at the time, Justice For Summerland said: a statement released online, the campaign group wrote: ‘This is a huge moment for the families and friends of the 48 young people who died in the Stardust fire in Dublin in 1981.

‘The verdict of unlawful killing today is a testament to their tenacity and determination to get truth and justice for their loved ones, despite many obstacles, including those put in their way by the state.

‘Their fight took more than 40 years. They did not give up and neither shall we.’

Back in July 2023, a week before the fire’s 50th anniversary, Chief Minister Alfred Cannan issued an apology for the ‘wrongdoings of the past’.