In the early hours of the morning of Valetine’’s Day, 14th February 1981, 48 young people aged 16 – 26 lost their lives in Ireland’s worst ever fire. It happened at the Stardust nightclub, which was housed in a converted factory in Artane, a northside suburb of Dublin. A further 214 of the 800+ clubbers were injured.
On 18th April 2024, 43 years after the fire, Dublin Coroners Court ruled that all 48 deaths were as a result of Unlawful Killing.
The findings of the initial investigation which concluded in November 1981 was that the ‘probable cause’ of the fire was arson. This enable the owners of the Stardust, the Butterly family, to pursue a claim for compensation against the city, and in 1983 they were awarded IR£580,000. This angered the survivors and relatives of the dead as they said it felt like victim blaming. The finding of arson also protected the nightclub’s owners from any criminal charges or civil lawsuits.
The aftermath of the fire led to a huge number of recommendations in relation to fire safety. However, some basic rules, such as the provision of readily available fire extinguishers and that fire exits were always kept clear and were well sign posted, which have since been implemented, could probably have prevented many deaths if they had existed at the time.
During the inquest the jury heard that the fire spread so quickly that most of the victims were already dead by the time the first engines arrived at the scene. The fire fighters were greeted by a scene of unimaginable carnage. A fire flashover had enveloped the club, and the lights had gone out, causing mass panic. A number of bodies were found piled 6-8 high in the men’s toilet, the belief being that they had mistaken its entrance for the main entrance and become trapped.
The jury found that the fire was the result of an electrical fault and said that lack of visibility due to black smoke, a lack of knowledge of the layout of the building, toxicity of the smoke and/or gases, the heat of the fire, failures of the emergency lighting system, lack of staff preparedness, and the speed of the spread of the fire were factors that impeded exit. Witnesses testified that fire doors were locked and chained up.
The fire has since been linked to the attempted suicides of approximately 25 people in subsequent years.
In 2009 an independent review found there was no evidence of arson and so this was dismissed as the cause.
It took another 10 years of lobbying but finally in September 2019 a new inquest into the Stardust deaths was ordered. Due to the pandemic the families had to wait until 2023 for this to begin
The coroner, Dr Myra Cullinane, paid tribute to the “persistence and commitment” of the families who had campaigned for fresh inquests.
“To the families I acknowledge the deaths of these 48 young people is a source of ongoing grief to those who loved them, and it remains the defining loss of their lives,” she said.
“However, I hope that family members will have taken some solace from the fact that these fresh inquests were held, that the facts surrounding the deaths were examined in detail, that moving testimony was heard from many of those involved in the events of the night and, most importantly, that you the families felt fully involved in proceedings, however difficult it was to hear all of the evidence.”
Following the latest findings a source said: ‘An official demand was made for money paid in compensation to the Butterly family to be repaid. This request was made to Dublin City Council and so far the local authority has not responded.’
‘During the inquest there was no evidence the fire was caused by arson so it would seem this compensation was paid erroneously. If funds are not repaid, then the families will take a judicial review.’