A former barman at the Stardust nightclub in north Dublin, where 48 young people died in a fire in 1981, has been accused of making up an account of leading dozens of patrons to safety on the night.
Laurence Neville, who was 25 at the time of the disaster, told inquests into the deaths on Wednesday he had shown “about 30″ people a way out of the venue. Mr Neville, appearing at Dublin coroner’s court, rejected the assertion by Sean Guerin, SC for the families of nine of the dead, that he had “fabricated” the event to “respond” to criticisms in the wake of the disaster that all the staff escaped while patrons died.
Fresh inquests into the deaths of 48 people, aged between 16 and 27, in the early hours of February 14th, 1981, were ordered in 2019 by then attorney general Séamus Woulfe on the grounds that the original 1982 inquests did not sufficiently inquire into the cause of the disaster.
Mr Neville made the 999 call to Dublin Fire Brigade from the venue at sometime between 1.40am and 1.45am, he said. He said he exited the Silver Swan bar, which was part of the Stardust complex, about 20 minutes after that and just one fire tender arrived about 10 minutes after that. He heard screaming and shouting from inside and a “huge bang” which he was “told later was the ceiling coming in”. He went to exit one and pulled people out.
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He told Simon Mills SC, for the coroner Dr Myra Cullinane, he brought a fireman up a fire escape to exit 1 who went in some way into the building. The fireman said: “My god, I have never seen anything like it,” said Mr Neville.
“He got on to his radio and [very quickly] there was every fire engine, guards, ambulances, civil defence, priests.”
Mr Guerin asked him about an account he gave at the 1981 tribunal of inquiry chaired by then Mr Justice Ronan Keane, in which he had described showing about 30 patrons a way out through the Silver Swan bar. Mr Guerin said Mr Neville had made no reference to this in any of his Garda statements, made earlier that year.
“In all of those statements I cannot find a reference to you helping 30 patrons getting out through the ... bar ... Do you agree you made no reference to that?
“I remember it well, like.”
Mr Guerin put it to him that he had told the inquests on Tuesday: “Well I got a good few to come out and follow me through the ... bar ... About 30 people followed me’.”
“Exactly,” said Mr Neville.
“You said a few moments ago you ... simply pointed them out. Yesterday ... you said you got them out. Now that’s not true Mr Neville, is it? ... Who were these people Mr Neville?”
“I don’t know who they were. They were there. There were so many people there.”
“It’s very hard to find any of these patrons you say you got out through the Silver Swan ... I am going to suggest to you Mr Neville that that simply didn’t happen.”
“Oh it did.”
After further questioning Mr Guerin said: “Mr Neville, you know one of the criticisms of the Stardust – the people who owned and managed it – was that the staff got out and the patrons were left to fight their way out of locked exits.
“And what you have tried to do for this jury is to fabricate an event of rescuing 30 people and taking them out through the Silver Swan for a purpose of responding to that criticism.”
Mr Neville rejected this, saying he had shown “about 30″ people a way out through the bar.
