The Government has announced that €8 million in funding has been allocated for inquests for the victims of the 1981 Stardust fire tragedy.
The funding is part of its Budget 2021 plan, which was announced in the Convention Centre today.
In September of last year, the then Attorney General Séamus Woulfe confirmed that the inquests will be held for the 48 victims of the St Valentine's Day tragedy. More than 200 people were also injured in the fire in Artane, Dublin.
The decision followed a request from the families of the victims in April 2019.
Last December, the Attorney General issued his direction to the Dublin District Coroner that fresh inquests should be held.
The families have continued to campaign for answers as to the cause of the tragedy.
When the new inquests were announced, Séamus Woulfe said he was satisfied that the holding of fresh inquests was, on balance, in the public interest and in the interests of justice.
A number of inquiries into the tragedy, including a Tribunal of Inquiry, have taken place but families of those killed and injured have been dissatisfied with previous findings.
The original Tribunal of Inquiry found that the cause of the fire was probable arson, a finding which angered the relatives of those who had died as they said it had damaged the reputations of their loved ones.
That finding was subsequently overturned by another inquiry in 2009.
The Department of Justice has said that the final costs of the inquest will not be clear "for some time". It says that the final costs will depend on the length of time and costs of legal and other expert advice deemed necessary by the Coroner.
The department says that the public facing elements of the inquest are anticipated to begin early next year.
