A Dublin couple whose only child was killed in the Stardust has said their daughter's life had been cruelly taken away and left them in unimaginable grief.
Caroline McHugh was 17 years old when she died in the 1981 blaze.
Today, Maurice and Phyllis McHugh told the inquest into the disaster that they were in Manchester for a relative’s wedding the weekend of the fire.
They said: "We always regretted this decision and feel guilty about it to this day."
The McHughs told the coroner’s court that after 42 years of waiting for justice and truth, they hoped the inquest would provide closure.
They described their daughter as an avid reader, an Irish dancer, who loved to go swimming. They said she was "a beautiful young lady with lovely long black hair".
In their pen portrait, they said that they were reluctant to let Caroline stay in Dublin that weekend, but that her best friend’s mother had offered to look after her for the two nights.
They said on the way to the ferry, they dropped their daughter off at work, "little did we know that this was the last time we would see Caroline alive as she waved us off, smiling", they said.
They told the inquest they were informed of the fire on the Saturday morning. They arrived back in Dublin that night and went straight to the morgue.
"We were advised not to see the remains because of severe burns and that she had no hair, was unrecognisable and unidentifiable."
They were handed their daughter’s melted jewellery.
They told the inquest into the disaster: "We often wondered if Caroline called out for her mammy and daddy for help as the flames burned her body and did she scream out in pain. We would think about this often in the years that followed with broken hearts."
They imagined too, what Caroline might have been, "… would she have had a successful career, got married, have children and have given us grandchildren?", they asked.
They said: "We feel that we have missed out on a lot."
The McHughs told the inquest that their daughter had been born on 1 July 1963 in the Rotunda Hospital.
They said it was ironic that it is on the grounds of that hospital where this inquest is now taking place.
Victim had moved to Dublin to be 'out of harm's way'
The sister of 21-year-old James Millar, who also died in the fire, told the inquest how the family were racked with guilt and blamed themselves for his death.
Laura Millar told the court that Jim, who had grown up in Belfast had settled in Dublin after his father had encouraged him to move south and away from the Troubles, "to keep him out of harm's way".
She said that decision had always come back to haunt her dad, who blamed himself for Jim’s death.
What was worse, she said, is that her younger brother, Martin, had got into a "silly argument" with Jim the last time they spoke and yelled "I wish you were dead".
She said Martin, who was 12 years old at the time, never got over it and blamed himself up to his death three years ago.
Ms Millar told the court that Jim, who was engaged to be married, was a beautiful person, a loving son and brother.
The last time she saw her brother was the previous Christmas when he visited her in the North.
She told the inquest that she had intended to travel down to the Stardust on the night for the dance, but that her plans had changed.
She said Jim went to the dance that night with his friend Bobby (Robert Hillick). Both died.
"Maybe seeing justice being done will help a little, but it’s been a long time coming. Too long. Maybe then they all can rest in peace at last, RIP," she said.
