CHRISTY MOORE HAS paid tribute to the victims and survivors of the Stardust fire while appearing on the Late Late Show.

During an interview with Ryan Tubridy last night, Moore asked if he could sing They Never Came Home – a song he wrote for the 48 people who died in the 1981 tragedy.

Moore said he had been speaking to Christine Keegan, whose daughters Mary and Martina were killed in the fire, earlier in the day and wanted to dedicate the song to “the families of the victims of the Stardust”.

The song’s lyrics include:

Have we forgotten the suffering and pain
The survivors and victims of the fire in Artane,
The mothers and fathers forever to mourn
The 48 children who never came home

In the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 1981, a fire tore through the Stardust nightclub in Artane just after the conclusion of a disco dancing competition that had attracted crowds from all around the north Dublin community and beyond.

In all, 48 people were killed. More than 200 were wounded.

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Introducing Stardust: A new podcast from TheJournal.ie

Survivors and victims’ families have long sought justice and an answer to what caused the fire. 

After a renewed campaign in recent years, the Attorney General in September agreed to new inquests for the victims of the fire.

TheJournal.ie examines the fire and a 39-year fight for justice in its podcast Stardust.