The 12-person jury handed down their verdict yesterday afternoon, ruling that the fire began as the result of an electrical fault.

A tribunal of inquiry in 1981, chaired by former chief justice Ronan Keane, controversially found that the cause of the devastating fire was “probable arson”, essentially exonerating the club’s owners from legal responsibility.

The attorney general agreed in 2019 to fresh inquests into the deaths following an application from the families of the victims.

The former manager of the nightclub, Eamonn Butterly, went to the High Court in 2022 in an unsuccessful bid to prevent the jury from considering a verdict of unlawful killing. He also brought another High Court application shortly before the jury began its deliberations, according to reports.

Speaking after the ruling, Darragh Mackin of Phoenix Law, who acts for the families of 47 of the 48 victims, said: “The 48 that never came home have now come home. They are at home in peace that justice has now been done and has been seen to be done. Justice is truth in action. Justice for the 48.”

Justice minister Helen McEntee said: “The conclusion of these inquests will not bring back those who died that night — but I hope that it will help their loved ones to achieve some small degree of closure and healing around this tragic event.

“I am very grateful to the jurors who devoted a significant amount of time to their duties. I acknowledge their dedication to the inquest process, which often involved sitting through extremely distressing evidence.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the senior Dublin coroner, Dr Myra Cullinane, for her professionalism and sensitivity in conducting the inquests.

“The role of the Department of Justice is and has always been to support the senior Dublin coroner, who is, by law, fully independent in conducting the inquests.

“The government will now consider the verdict and recommendations of the jury.”