On the 14th of February, 1981, in the early hours of the morning, Peter O’Toole used
a public telephone in the foyer of the Stardust nightclub in Dublin to place a call to the
police.
His girlfriend’s handbag had been stolen, and he wanted to report the theft.
But, as he struggled to hear the operator, Mr O’Toole was distracted by screams coming
from inside the club.
After a moment, he hung up the phone – not knowing at the time that a recording of his
call would later become evidence in the investigation into one of the worst disasters ever to take
place in Dublin.
The building which housed the Stardust nightclub started life in 1948 as a food factory.
After several decades the owners, the Butterly family, converted the building into a space
for social events.
The interior was divided up into a pub called the Silver Swan, a restaurant and space for
private functions called The Lantern Rooms, and a nightclub called The Stardust.
The club was equipped with two bars, a dancefloor, a stage, and two alcoves with in-built bank
seating.
It was a popular night out, particularly for clubgoers in their late teens and early twenties.
On the 13th of February, 1981, a Valentine’s Day Eve event was planned at The Stardust.
It would begin in the evening and run into the early hours of the next day, with the
club having been granted special permission to serve alcohol until 2:00am.
This was not normally allowed, and in order to gain this exemption it had been necessary
to organise the event as a dinner dance, with attendees offered a perfunctory meal at the
end of the night.
For almost everyone in attendance, though, the actual focus was the disco, a dance competition
with prizes, and drinks and music.
841 people attended the event – most of them under the age of 21, and many under the
age of 18.
Despite the popularity of the event, The Stardust was nowhere near its maximum capacity of 1,700.
In addition to the 841 at the Valentine’s Day disco, there were some people in other
parts of the building, including attendees of a private dinner taking place in the Lantern
Rooms.
For several hours the night went smoothly.
At one point, four young men attempted to find a way into the venue without paying the
£3 ticket price.
They failed to pry open a fire exit, and again failed to gain entry through a skylight before
staff noticed their presence and chased them off, inadvertently sparing the youths from
the events which followed.
By 1:30am bar was shut, and around 30 patrons had gone home, but the majority remained inside
The Stardust.
The dance competition had just finished, and the winners were giving a demonstration dance
on stage.
As they watched, some patrons noticed that the area in which they were sitting was unusually
hot.
A few moments later, a small fire was seen in the west alcove of the club.
This alcove was not in use at the time, and was partially screened off with roller blinds,
though the fire could still be seen around these.
A bouncer approached the alcove with a fire extinguisher while the DJ appealed for calm.
Some people moved towards the exits… but to most people present the fire appeared small
and controllable.
Though the fire appeared small to those inside the club, to those outside the scale was more
apparent.
An orange glow hung over the building, and flames could be seen tearing through the roof.
The noise and light attracted the attention of dozens of people in nearby houses.
At this point in time, Peter O’ Toole was in the foyer, calling the police to report
the theft of his girlfriend’s handbag.
He later recalled hanging up when he heard screaming from inside the club, only for a
bouncer to immediately seize the phone and redial 999 to alert the fire service.
At 1:45am, the fire – which had appeared small and controllable – suddenly worsened.
This happened very rapidly.
Within the space of just ten or twenty seconds the situation inside the Stardust changed
completely.
The fire swelled.
The bouncer with the fire extinguisher felt his hair singeing and face burning, and abandoned
his attempt to fight it.
A large portion of the ceiling collapsed, spilling a huge cloud of black smoke into
the nightclub.
Burning particles rained down on the bench seating in the west alcove, causing the flames
to spread rapidly.
The fire was later described as jumping from one row of seats to the next.
Moments later, the lights failed, plunging the club into darkness.
There were several fire exits from the Stardust nightclub.
Indeed, people elsewhere in the building were able to exit quickly and without difficulty
– everyone present at the private dinner in the Lantern Rooms, for example, was able
to evacuate.
For the young people in the Stardust, however, escape was much more difficult.
The club was dark and confusing, with scattered tables and chairs to trip over.
As panic gripped the room, some people fell and were inadvertently trampled by others
in the race for the exits.
Some of those exits were blocked, with cars or bins located too close to the doors for
them to fully open.
Some fire exits were chained shut when the venue was not in use… but had been unlocked
before the disco began.
However, the chains had then been draped over the door handles, making them difficult to
open, and giving the strong impression that they were still locked.
Confused and terrified, many people mistook the doors to the toilets for exit doors, and
ended up trapped in the toilets at the front of the building.
Though there were some windows, in most cases there had been covered on the inside, or barred
on the outside.
These bars resisted removal.
As the fire developed a fire crew would attempt to remove them using a tow rope and a fire
engine, but would be unsuccessful.
People from nearby houses flocked to the scene with ladders and other equipment, attempting
to break the few accessible windows and pull people to safety.
Bouncers fought to stop survivors from running back into the burning building to look for
their friends.
Staff were unsure whether to open doors to help people escape, or close them to prevent
oxygen flooding in and feeding the flames.
The fire service arrived on scene.
They were able to use the building’s water tank to fight the flames, but prioritised
entering the building to rescue anyone who might still be alive.
At least 20 people were, indeed, rescued from the toilets at the front of the building,
but for many others it was already too late.
All in all 48 people died as a result of the fire and 214 were injured, many of them seriously.
In some cases it would take months or years for them to make even a partial recovery.
An investigation was launched in the days after the fire.
It quickly became apparent that there were many issues with the Stardust that had contributed
to the death toll.
As well as the obstructed fire exits, there had also been flammable carpeting covering
some walls, and a large quantity of flammable materials stored in a room near where the
fire began: materials which included cleaning agents, polish, and barrels of cooking oil.
Some seats had coverings that resisted fire, but foam filling which was flammable.
Staff had received little or no fire safety training, and in many cases it had not been
made clear to them what to do in the event of a large scale emergency in the building.
Despite all of this, an inquiry came to the conclusion that the fire was likely to have
been the result of arson.
This meant that the owners of the club were not responsible, and did not have to compensate
survivors or their families.
Indeed, the Butterly family were compensated by the city of Dublin for the damages to their
property.
After a lengthy process, many victims also received compensation, although – as the
amount allotted for compensation was divided between so many seriously injured persons
– the amount was often quite small, sometimes as low as £7,500 per death.
The ruling that the fire was caused by arson remained contentious not just for years but
decades.
There was little conclusive evidence to suggest that this was the case.
Those affected by the fire, as well as dealing with unimaginable injury or loss, had to campaign
for over thirty years for the causes of the fire to be re-examined.
Finally, in 2009, the finding that the fire was caused by arson was removed due to a lack
of evidence.
Ten years later, families were able to persuade the Attorney General to hold a new inquest
into the 48 deaths that resulted from the Stardust fire.
More than four decades after the devastating fire at the Stardust nightclub, many questions
remain unanswered.
A memorial to the victims stands in a public park dedicated to them in the Bonnybrook area
of Dublin.
They are remembered also by the many thousands of people who knew and loved them, and who
have worked tirelessly since their death to ensure that the fire which cost so many young
lives is one day fully and fairly investigated.