Survivors of the Stardust fire and the families of victims have been invited to the Dáil on Tuesday to hear a State apology.
Roughly 70 survivors and relatives met with Taoiseach Simon Harris at Government Buildings on Saturday to discuss the wording of the apology.
Saturday's meeting took place after the historic Stardust inquests ruled that the 48 people who died in the fire in the Dublin nightclub on Valentine's Day, 1981, were unlawfully killed.
The jury at the Dublin District Coroner's Court ruled that the fire started due to an electrical fault in a hot press at the nightclub, while at least some of the club's emergency exit doors were locked, impeding victims from exiting the building.
The finding was in stark contrast with the 1982 Keane Tribunal, which ruled that the fire was "probably started deliberately".
In a statement on Saturday, Harris apologized "unreservedly" to survivors and the families of victims and confirmed that they would receive a State apology in the Dáil on Tuesday.
"It was a humbling and emotional meeting. I want to thank every person who attended for what they told me, both as a group and in private individual conversations," Harris said in a statement.
He said more than 70 people gathered in Government Buildings for Saturday's meeting.
"However, I am acutely aware that the numbers affected by Stardust is many, many multiples of that. That includes those injured, the people working in Stardust, the frontline workers who fought to save lives on the night.
"It includes survivors, the fire crews, the ambulance staff, the gardaí, the army, the taxi drivers, and the communities across Ireland who have carried this tragedy with them for 43 years.
"I have listened closely to everything the families told me and as Taoiseach, I have today apologized unreservedly to each family. I will do so on behalf of the State on Tuesday next."
Stardust survivor Antoinette Keegan said Harris called out the names of each of the 48 victims during Saturday's meeting and said the Taoiseach would do so again on Tuesday.
"It's very, very positive, what he’s doing," Keegan told reporters after Saturday's meeting.
She added that Stardust victims and relatives previously felt "abandoned by the Irish State" in their search for justice.
"I’m feeling very positive that we’ve been listened to after 43 years. The Government acknowledges the pain and suffering they've put us through," Keegan said.
She said survivors and relatives would not accept the apology if it was not "done right".
Meanwhile, Carole Barrett, whose brother died in the fire, said Saturday's meeting went well but that Tuesday's apology must be "robust, meaningful, and transparent".
"It's got to be worth the paper it's written on," Barrett told reporters.
"It’s got to take a lot of time, it’s not to be rushed and it really has to stand up for each and every one of these victims."
Barrett said there are "many" things that the Government must apologize for, including the length of time it took to identify some of the victims.
She added that family members "became our own investigators of our own loved ones".
Earlier on Saturday, the group met with Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald, who described the meeting as "incredible" and "emotional".
Speaking before Harris's statement, McDonald said Sinn Féin would be tabling a motion calling for a State apology.
"It is essential that a State apology is now made and that it addresses the failures of governments not just 43 years ago in the aftermath of this tragedy but every day since then," McDonald said on Saturday.
"For four decades, they have faced obstacle after obstacle put in front of them by the State."
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