The family of a teenager who died in the Stardust fire has told the inquest into the disaster that they need answers and closure to allow the victims to be able to rest in peace.
Donna Mahon, from the Edenmore suburb in Dublin, was aged 17 when she lost her life in the 1981 blaze.
Her sister Theresa Fitzpatrick said Donna was not just a number and described her as a lovely daughter and loving sister.
She said Donna was loved by her family and throughout the community and had her whole life ahead of her.
The inquest heard how Donna was "so excited" to go to the Stardust dance.
"From what we have been told, Donna was no length of time in the Stardust when the fire broke out," she said.
Donna's sister, Bernie, was also attending. She survived and was carried out unconscious in a critical condition.
"While Bernie lay in hospital, her beloved sister Donna had died and was buried unknown to her," Ms Fitzpatrick told the court.
The inquest heard that Donna Mahon was identified by a bracelet that her sister Theresa had given her.
Her family and friends were all left traumatised, she said.
Ms Fitzpatrick ended her pen portrait by saying that closure was needed.
"We are all so tired. 48 men and women's families need answers," she said.
'We may still have justice' - brother of victim
The brother of Paula Lewis, who was 19 years old when she died in the fire, has said the grief that was visited on his family was horrendous.
John Lewis described his sister as "my ma's right-hand woman and my dad’s pride and joy."
He said the wait to identify Paula’s body, the funeral, the crying, the grief was unbearable but that it had to be lived through.
Mr Lewis said that it is impossible to try and explain, as we get older, how much we lost.
He said to add insult to injury, they had "so-called experts" advising them to avoid getting involved in the legal system and telling them what "our Paula was worth."
Mr Lewis said: "We have never had or never will have closure, that’s just a fancy word people use but we may still have justice."
Wade was one of seven unidentified individuals
The brother of another victim told the inquest how their family had to wait 26 years before his remains were formally identified.
Paul Wade was 17 years old when he lost his life at the dance.
Today, his pen portrait, which was written by his brother Tony, was read by Tony's son Emmet.
Paul Wade was described as very funny little lad who was very outgoing.
He had gone to the Stardust that night with Susie Morgan, who also died, along with his brother Emmet and his girlfriend Finola.
Tony Wade told the inquest when the fire broke out, he was dancing on the floor, but Paul and Susie were "way back up in the seats."
"That is probably the reason I got out, because we were near the exit doors," he said.
He spoke of the frantic searches for his brother in various Dublin hospitals.
Paul Wade ended up being one of the seven unidentified individuals.
The court heard how upset his mother was that the family had to wait for seven years, until he was classified dead, before they could purchase his headstone.
He was identified through DNA in 2007 and reinterred. Both of his parents had passed away by then.
The inquest heard how Paul's father had been really upset that his son lay unidentified.
The court was also told how his mother went "completely downhill" after Paul died, she passed away in 1983.
His father "tried and tried to get answers... He wrote to politicians because he was very, very annoyed."
Through his pen portrait, Tony Wade told the inquest: "Some people lost their own lives that night because their loved ones being killed in the Stardust has consumed them."
"I don't know if we made a conscious effort to avoid that or not." he said.
"My family and I loved Paul and we really miss him," he added.
Mother believed son could still be alive
The family of Eamonn Loughman, who died in the fire, said their parents passed away "broken" people and were never given the truth or justice for their son's death.
The 19-year-old, from Beaumont in Dublin, was described as a great brother who was kind and caring. The inquest was told too of his love of cars and music.
His family told the Dublin District Coroner's Court that his death had a devastating impact on them.
In their pen portrait, they told of how they remembered the day of the fire and the aftermath well, saying the wails of despair and anguish haunt them to this day.
They told of the devastation growing up, seeing the mother’s and father’s hearts broken.
The court was told how for years, their mother hung on to the belief that Eamonn could be alive, that he could have banged his head, lost his memory and was lost somewhere. She believed he was going to turn up one day.
The inquest heard how Eamonn Loughman's remains were not identified at the time and that the family could not get a headstone.
"My mother's heart was broken... 25 years she had to live with that," they said.
They said his memory should not be encapsulated as a statistic and said his loss left an enduring sadness in all their lives.
