Phelim Kinahan discusses locked Stardust exits at inquest

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Former Stardust floor manager Phelim Kinahan gave evidence at Dublin Coroner’s Court on 21 June 2023, discussing claims that exit doors had been locked.

During a recess, someone off camera was alleged to have said the doors were locked; Kinahan said he did not remember replying that it was nothing to do with him.

Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane cautioned jurors that the account of the exchange was second- or third-hand evidence.

Kinahan said he remembered the doors being closed but not locked, and said chains could give that impression. He also said the policy was to keep the doors locked for roughly the first hour until people were inside.

Michael O’Higgins SC, representing a number of families, said experiments after the fire found that doors jammed when chains were wrapped around them and both bars were pressed down at the same time. Asked whether he saw how dangerous the practice was, Kinahan replied: “A bit dangerous, yes.”

The inquest was examining the 1981 Stardust nightclub fire in Dublin, which killed 48 people.