Antoinette Keegan, whose family campaigned for more than 40 years for a fresh inquiry into the 1981 Stardust nightclub fire, has told Dublin coroner’s court of “clutching” her younger sister’s hand as she was pulled from the inferno.
Ms Keegan, giving evidence on Tuesday at fresh inquests into the deaths of 48 people in the early hours of February 14th, 1981, became emotional as she referenced her sisters Mary (19) and Martina (16) who perished in the blaze. Ms Keegan, who was 18 at the time, had promised her late father she would “look after” her sisters that night.
She also lost close friends, Mary Kenny (19), Michael French (19), Michael Griffiths (16), Sandra Lawless (18) and Paula Lewis (19).
Another witness, Joseph Brown, 17 at the time, described his ongoing pain on losing his “best mate” that night, Robert Kelly (17) – known as Spiky as he gelled his hair.
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The court heard from six witnesses on Tuesday, all of whom escaped the fire through an exit known as exit 4. The inquests have heard of chaotic scenes as people tried to open this exit, and assertions it was chained and padlocked.
Ms Keegan said she had been dancing with her sisters and friends some time after 1.30am when she saw flames in a tiered seating area known as the West alcove. Shortly after the lights went out and the music stopped.
“The place was covered in thick black smoke. It was everywhere, and choking everyone. We couldn’t breathe and then the fire was flying across the ceiling and falling down on top of us. The ceiling was collapsing.”
Her group was “about 6ft away” from exit 4 when they were pushed to the ground as people surged towards the door. “I remember looking up and seeing that people couldn’t open the doors and the heat was getting so intense. I remember a ball of flame coming towards us and I put my hands over my head, the heat of the fire was so hot, and the thick black smoke, we couldn’t breathe.
“I saw a person... in a ball of flames under the table and they just kept rolling over screaming,” she said. She then remembered being outside. “I got up and my hands were burning off me and I saw a pile of sand or soil... I don’t know what it was... I just wanted to cool my hands, face and neck down so I started rubbing my hands in it and rubbing it on my face.”
She later learned a man she named as Thomas Larkin had had to “kick” her hand out of her sister Martina’s as they lay near the exit, to free her and get her out. Ms Keegan suffered extensive burns and spent more than two weeks in Dr Steevens’ Hospital.
Mr Brown, who also exited through exit 4, said the fire was “like a fountain, like a waterfall of flames coming down from the curtains and the ceiling”.
He could not see anything “because it just went black so quick... I was holding the people that I was with. I was trying to hang on to them like a child hangs on to their mother. I was just, I didn’t know what I was doing to be honest. I was just following where people were going.”
Asked if he noted whom he was with as he tried to get out he said he “didn’t take any notice of anybody”.
He continued: “This may sound selfish but I was frightened and I wanted to get out.”
Des Fahy, for families of nine of the dead including Robert Kelly, asked when he had last seen him. It was about 10 minutes before “it all kicked off”, he said.
“He was chatting to Marie Kennedy [17, from Kilbarrack, who died in the fire] on the dance floor... He said he was heading to the toilets and that’s the last,” said Mr Brown.
“Spiky, he was my best mate. We all went together, grew up together, done everything together,” he said. “Spiky was mad into his punk music and a very big Sham 69 fan ... He wasn’t a big disco fan.”
They enjoyed the Stardust, he continued. “It was a place we could get a drink and we thought we were big men. We were only 17 years of age but it was great to have that feeling and that freedom.”
Asked if he looked for him once he had got out, Mr Brown said he had looked for him outside and in the hospitals. “He was that close to me.”
“All of us here,” he said referring to families and other witnesses. “Everyone says we’re survivors, but 43 years is a long time and you know I have lost a lot since the Stardust like many other people here, suffered PTSD, on medication.
“It has had more of a profound effect on me in the last year because it’s all coming back, and everything is starting, my subconscious is coming out... When you think of the people you lost. I lost some good friends, some really good friends and everybody did. It is hard. It is hard to remember.”
The inquests continue on Wednesday.
