The inquests into the deaths of the 48 young people who died in the Stardust fire in Artane, Dublin in 1981 feature pen portraits of each of the deceased by bereaved family members. Find all of the portraits and more coverage here.
I am David’s younger brother and only sibling and I will be representing my family today.
We were a family of four, with my dad William and my mum Maura. Unfortunately, my father passed away a few years back and my mother also sadly passed away recently after being a resident of Highfield Healthcare and being in the late stages of Alzheimer’s.
From memory I believe he was a Chelsea supporter, bless his soul, as I remember having one of his tops handed down to me.
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My parents, especially my mum, pushed David to stay on at school to get a good education and job. However, he had other ideas. Whilst David attended St David’s CBS, all he wanted to do was leave and get a job.
He was suddenly starting to have an interest in clothes, music and girls and knew the only way he could have these was with a job, as things were tight back then for my parents.
He got a job with Superquinn in Northside Shopping Centre. He excelled there, and quickly got on to a management training course. He was in his element.
David was very outgoing, confident and charismatic. He went from strength to strength and very quickly began to realise his potential. He was popular with both customers and colleagues and quickly established a large friendship group. David loved the ladies. He was a handsome devil and knew it. He loved socialising, and the local pubs were ... where he’d happily meet his mates for a pint.
I still remember him that night, getting ready and preening himself. I looked up to him and wanted to be as cool as he was. I was woken by the sound of someone speaking downstairs.
I was too afraid to get up ... My bed was next to the window and, in the distance, I could hear the fire brigade engines.
My parents basically shut down that morning ... My brother wore a David’s star around his neck, and it was this that was used to identify him.
Unfortunately, it’s very difficult for me to recall much more information as I know my parents did everything to try and shield me from what was happening. It all became a blur. I was out of school for about 1-2 weeks.
I have no memories of the funeral. However, when my father passed away, I found all the cuttings my mum had saved and it brought the whole thing back ... I wish I could remember more about what happened, but it was so long ago I think the trauma has pushed it deep into my memory.
As I got older, I really missed having a sibling I could chat to and reach out to when I couldn’t talk to my parents.
We would visit the grave every Sunday ... I hated it ... I didn’t understand ... I believe it helped my parents, but in the long term the overall impact, especially on my mum, was sad. She suffered depression.
My dad, too, never recovered ... He just lost interest and unfortunately a pint was his way of trying to deal with it all.
I always think of my brother. When I return to Dublin [from the UK] I make every effort to visit the grave and have a chat ... it’s not something that comes natural.
David, I miss you ... The way the whole thing was just ‘pushed under the carpet’ was an insult to everyone who died and all those loved ones who were affected. I just want someone to accept that what happened was a dreadful event that could have been avoided.
I want the memory of everyone who died to be remembered and honoured and hopefully for all the families affected to get some closure.