‘Make no mistake and remember, the Stardust changed every person it touched’: Witness testimony was startling and distressing

‘Make no mistake and remember, the Stardust changed every person it touched’: Witness testimony was startling and distressingFamily and friends of those who died in the Stardust tragedy at The Rotunda Pillar Room on Parnell Square, Dublin Photograph: Gareth Chaney/ Collins PhotosCrucial to building a picture of how and why 48 people, aged 16 to 27, died as a result of an inferno in the north Dublin nightclub in the early hours of 14th February 1981, was evidence on the almost 3,000 carpet-tiles...

In June 2023 former floor-coverings salesman Declan Conway outlined how he had sourced carpet-tiles to line the Stardust’s walls in 1977/78, along with a fire-certificate requested by manager Eamon Butterly. Conway insisted the manufacturer knew the tiles would be used as wallcovering, rejecting the company’s 1981 assertion they would never have recommended them for walls. The fire certificate did not meet the requirements of Dublin corporation, now Dublin City Council , the inquests heard.

Former manager of the Stardust nightclub Eamon Butterly gave evidence at the inquests at the Rotunda, Parnell Square, Dublin. Photograph: Stephen Collins /Collins Photos The following month, the former deputy head doorman Leo Doyle, made a dramatic reversal. After four days in the witness box saying the doors were unlocked, he apologised and said he now believed he “made a right boo-boo ... the doors were locked. They must have been.”

As to how the fire started, arson was ruled out in 2009 when the Houses of the Oireachtas removed the finding, by the chair of the 1981 tribunal of inquiry Mr Justice Ronan Keane, that arson was the “probable” cause, from the public record. Testimony from patrons and emergency services over several weeks in late 2023 was among the most distressing. Evidence from Damien Fallon, aged 16 at the time, was read into the record in November. He described getting out and then witnessing a girl “making for the door”.

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