Courts / Dublin / Report

Main door of Stardust was locked ten minutes before fire, eyewitness says

Date
2023-10-12

Stage
Trial

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

During the inquest into the February 14, 1981 Stardust nightclub fire, witnesses testified that the main exit doors were locked and blocked. Peter Redmond, a patron, described seeing the doors locked ten minutes before the blaze, the carpet tiles on the walls catching fire, and a crowd trapped inside as lights failed and black smoke filled the hall. He recounted trying to re-enter for a friend but being stopped by a bouncer. Liam "Leo" Hennessy, aged 31, recounted seeing smoke and a fireball, being pushed through an exit, and learning the next day that his friend Dave Flood had died. Kathleen Deeney described being knocked to the floor, forced through a crowded corridor, and finding the main doors closed while other exits opened. David Bell confirmed that a Chubb lock was in place on the main door ten minutes before the fire began. The jury heard these accounts as part of the ongoing inquest held at the Rotunda Hospital.