The families received a rare boost last week with news that the bodies of five unidentified victims of the fire will be exhumed in order to be formally identified. However, the families have maintained pressure on the government to establish a fresh inquiry, sparking a new series of demonstations outside the Dail this week.

What are the families looking for?

The families reject the findings of the initial inquiry, which was established in the wake of the fire and found that the fire was the result of "probable arson". Families of those killed in the fire claim that it may have been started accidentally, and say that safety standards at the Stardust disco should be examined.

Antoinette Keegan, who lost two sisters in the tragedy, said that families were taking to the streets again in protest over further delays from the Taoiseach's office.

"The Taoiseach met us on 18 September and asked us could we give him a few more weeks, " she said. "We gave him until the end of October, which is now gone, and he has asked us can we give him three more weeks."

Keegan and the relatives of other victims have declared their intention to protest outside the Dail daily until there is movement towards establishing a fresh inquiry.

They began their protests on Wednesday.

What has the political reaction been like?

Mary Harney, then Tanaiste, declared in February that the government was willing to study any new submissions from the victims' families. That submission was made last July and was followed by a meeting between the families and the Taoiseach in September. However, no decision has been made regarding an inquiry.

Sean Haughey TD this week voiced his support for the victims' families, while opposition TDs also voiced their support for the new inquiry. Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said that people had died at Stardust because they had been crowded in "unconscionable numbers into an unsafe space with the doors padlocked".

Rabbitte said that a new inquiry may bring forth a verdict of "corporate manslaughter".

How have families reacted to news that the five unidentified bodies will be exhumed and formally identified?

The decision, announced in the Dail this week, has been welcomed by everybody connected to the campaign for justice for the families involved. However, concern has been expressed over the fact that the families of the five unidentified bodies have not been formally notified of when the process will begin.

Jack Loughman's son Eamon died in the Stardust tragedy but his body was never formally identified. While welcoming the latest developments, he questioned why it had taken so long for the government to undertake the exhumation process.

"I still haven't received any official word that they are going to identify the bodies, so I'd be worried that they will change their minds, " he told the Sunday Tribune.

"I can't understand why it has taken this long. With modern technology, there is no reason why the bodies could not have been identified years ago."

Eamon Loughman is buried alongside four other unidentified bodies in a common plot in St Fintan's cemetery in Sutton.

The other young men in the plot are Paul Wade, Michael French, Richard Bennett and Murtagh Kavanagh.

Jack Loughman erected a plaque on the site in 1999, but says that the uncertainty over which grave holds the remains of his son adds to the heartache of losing his child.

"I'm 90% certain which one is Eamon, but it's very hard not knowing for certain, " he said. "When they were being buried, the gardai told me that they were almost certain which one was Eamon."

Will the families have to pay for the cost of the identification process?

No, the state will pay all the costs of the process. Bertie Ahern has confirmed that the state would pay for the exhumation and identification process, and would also pay all costs for individual re-burials of the five men.

The state would also have to pay the cost of any new inquiry, but families of the victims have said that they are looking for a focused inquiry that would not drag on.

Greg O'Neill, lawyer for the Stardust families, said that they were seeking an inquiry based around a number of issues, not a protracted tribunal that would continue for months and possibly years. Any new inquiry would focus on reviewing the original inquiry's findings and also analysing evidence that was not taken into account during the first inquiry. The 1981 inquiry lasted 122 days.

Are the families united in their action?

Not entirely. While the majority of families want a fresh inquiry, some have lost the will to fight, while others are worried that the call for a fresh inquiry will distract from other issues, namely the identification of the five bodies buried in Sutton.

Jack Loughman says that he supports calls for a new inquiry, but his main priority has always been to have the body of his son formally identified: "I'd be worried that these calls for a fresh inquiry would distract the government from the identification issue. I would support a new inquiry but only after my son has been identified."

Some of the families of the Stardust victims have also lost touch with each other . . . Loughman says that he is in touch with only one other family.

Antoinette Keegan, who lost her two sisters, Mary and Martina, in the tragedy, has led many of the calls for a fresh inquiry.