35 years ago today - Stardust

14-02-2016 1:24am #1

Thought it only right that we commemorate the 35th anniversary of this dreadful tragedy and while it has been discussed quite a bit on boards over the years im surprised the anniversary hasn't been mentioned much this week in the various sections of the media or indeed on this or any other site

I respect that there is many users on this site that will have been affected by this tragedy. Granted i haven't been directly affected by it in the same way in that i live the other side of the country and i was born two years after this tragedy but learning of the events of that dreadful night has had a profound effect on me and having experienced clubs and pubs i would definitely say our attitude hasn't changed towards fire safety. I know of one popular nightspot in particular in the nearest town where you enter upstairs and exit upstairs and there was often a situation where you couldn't move in there come 1.30/2am.

May the 48 never be forgotten. RIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcizhnIU2lI

Azalea · 14-02-2016 1:26am

Only found out recently enough that a boyfriend and girlfriend who were killed had a baby girl. Can't imagine it - orphaned as a tiny baby and both your parents only youngsters themselves.

BMJD · 14-02-2016 1:32am

I remember seeing the thick smoke from my bedroom window as a child. Someone was banging on our door, they were looking for the next door neighbours because their 4 children were there - one of them lost their life in it with her friend from around the corner. I didn't understand what was going on at the time, it must have been such a traumatic time for the area I grew up in.

Poor Uncle Tom · 14-02-2016 1:43am

Absolutely shocking, and was the catalyst for the introduction of the Building Control Act 1990. The shocking thing is that this Act was only updated in 2013 and only as a self preservation-al knee jerk reaction to the Priory Hall situation by the government.

Seriously, only for the dedicated building control officers and fire officers on the streets this Stardust would have happened over and over again.

14-02-2016 1:49am

Azalea wrote: »

Only found out recently enough that a boyfriend and girlfriend who were killed had a baby girl. Can't imagine it - orphaned as a tiny baby and both your parents only youngsters themselves.

There was a young man that died that night who was portrayed in the drama 10 years ago who had a young wife and child . Think his brother won a disco dancing competition the same night there? So so tragic

of course one family lost 3 kids :eek: and the Keegan family who have worked so tirelessly for justice since 1981 lost two daughters.

if ever an event gave us a glimpse of the cronyism and cute-hoorism of the gobsh*tes running the country its that night. Even the deaths of 48 people were swept aside by the pull of money, greed and power :mad:

Atlantic Dawn · 14-02-2016 1:53am

Was any pub or club ever closed down or cautioned since for overcrowding and blocking of exits?

Thousands of houses and apartments built since with improper fire protection as they were never inspected, luck there has been no massacre of people.

whatismyname · 14-02-2016 1:54am

Here's the tv programme Stardust that was shown on RTE.

Watched it a while back. Very, very powerful watch. Heartbreaking stuff.

Poor Uncle Tom · 14-02-2016 2:05am

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Was any pub or club ever closed down or cautioned since for overcrowding and blocking of exits?

Thousands of houses and apartments built since with improper fire protection as they were never inspected, luck there has been no massacre of people.

There has been many, many pubs and events halls cleared and closed over the years through the vigilance of fire officers.

I agree about the apartments being built without full compliance with the regs.....

14-02-2016 2:07am

whatismyname wrote: »

Here's the tv programme Stardust that was shown on RTE.

Watched it a while back. Very, very powerful watch. Heartbreaking stuff.

i seen it a while back myself. Jesus it was awful altogether.

Very very hard watching but then while i have the comfort of switching my tv off, there is those that have no choice but to live with the events of which could and should have been avoided.

I remember one bit where John Keegan was screaming to firemen at the front doors that his daughters were in there. the man was after working a shift in cadburys that evening and came home to this horror unfolding before him along with many other parents

now i pretty much couldn't bring myself to watch the fire itself in the end so was flicking through admittedly. in alot of ways the second episode was a harder watch than the first episode because you watch peoples lives disintegrate before you.

May such a tragedy be prevented in the future

14-02-2016 2:11am

There is still events happening elsewhere like this, the most recent being the Collectiv disaster in Bucharest. 63 died. The death toll was still rising when the events in Paris were unfolding two weeks later from what i gather

wil · 14-02-2016 2:29am

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

Absolutely shocking, and was the catalyst for the introduction of the Building Control Act 1990. The shocking thing is that this Act was only updated in 2013 and only as a self preservation-al knee jerk reaction to the Priory Hall situation by the government.

Seriously, only for the dedicated building control officers and fire officers on the streets this Stardust would have happened over and over again.

Another thing that stunned me, in terms of forewarning, and I only heard of it recently, 8 years previous, 1973, there was an equally horrific fire killing 50 people in a new leisure centre, Summerland in the Isle of Man.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-23449990

Planning regs in the uk would never have allowed it built as was, and it probably should have been a wake up call for all at the time.
Unlike the Stardust, it has been largely forgotten from the history books.

Poor Uncle Tom · 14-02-2016 2:35am

wil wrote: »

Another thing that stunned me, in terms of forewarning, and I only heard of it recently, 8 years previous, 1973, there was an equally horrific fire killing 50 people in a new leisure centre, Summerland in the Isle of Man.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-23449990

Planning regs in the uk would never have allowed it built as was, and it probably should have been a wake up call for all at the time.
Unlike the Stardust, it has been largely forgotten from the history books.

Some professionals I know were fighting for the introduction of the building regulations since the early 1980's as a result of this, but only got the legislation rushed through as a direct result of the Stardust disaster, in my opinion the civil servants behind the ministers have a lot to answer for.

JupiterKid · 14-02-2016 2:39am

I was 6 years of age at the time of Stardust but I remember it well. It was a horrific tragedy, caused by lax standards and pure greed. The owner of the club got away scot free because of the powerful connections he had.

Some families lost 2 or more children in the inferno. Tragic to say the least.

14-02-2016 2:40am

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

Some professionals I know were fighting for the introduction of the building regulations since the early 1980's as a result of this, but only got the legislation rushed through as a direct result of the Stardust disaster, in my opinion the civil servants behind the ministers have a lot to answer for.

the tail seems to wag the dog in politics. What do we vote politicians in for if Civil Servants ultimately call the shots?

Poor Uncle Tom · 14-02-2016 2:51am

Deleted User wrote: »

the tail seems to wag the dog in politics. What do we vote politicians in for if Civil Servants ultimately call the shots?

Good question, we get to vote in politicians who then give jobs to their friends and family under full retirement contracts and index linked payment policies regardless of performance, etc, etc,

If they put the same effort into the legislation as they do into their pay and severance packages we would be all a hell of a lot better off.

Time I went to bed, I'm starting to make sense....

aziz · 14-02-2016 4:36am

I have worked in the "entertainment industry" since 1985 and to this day I am still shocked at the flagrant abuses of the law concerning all of the different venues from the smallest pub to large hotel function rooms and more.
Some places I've been in keep up to date in the fire code but only because the local fire officer is on the ball or can't be fobbed or bribed off.

Hotels seem to be the worst offender as for some of their "functions" they just ram people into the room and very seldom would you hear any safety announcements been played before the show starts unlike most if not all professional theatre venues.

Any time I get into a new or unknown venue to me, the first thing I check out is the fire exits or any other way out of the room should the worst happen.
One or two places I have been in recently would still have some of the exits chained and locked when I am in there setting up and when I say to the management that once anybody is on the premises that all exits should be open and clear i am just accused of over reacting.

I then ask these people if they have heard of the stardust,the station or the collective club fire and I am amazed that they haven't .

Atlantic Dawn · 14-02-2016 9:55pm

Watched this earlier, gives an insight in to how the fire spread so quickly...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SBO1S6JP04

14-02-2016 10:20pm

Remember the morning after..waiting by the phone for our brother who was living in Artane or Raheny at the time and was a regular there. The relief when he phoned at lunchtime, he had gone on the tear and was too drunk after the pub to go there but his friends carried on. They all made it out.

So in his hungover state he got the "thank God you're alive" moving swiftly into a lecture on drinking response from my mum.

The Black Oil · 14-02-2016 10:21pm

My office is based in a large building and we receive fire awareness training from Dublin Fire Brigade. The Stardust incident happened before I was born, but the name alone is enough to conjure up something pretty chilling that's part of relatively recent Irish history. The DFB officer used it as an example due how it unfolded. Always raise the alarm.

14-02-2016 10:30pm

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

Absolutely shocking, and was the catalyst for the introduction of the Building Control Act 1990...

The Fire Safety Act 1981 was the immediate reaction.

It took the apartment collapse on Raglan Road in 1987 to trigger the Building Control Act.

Ulysses Gaze · 14-02-2016 10:38pm

And the only charge related to the disaster was for John Keegan's assault on one of the Butterly's.

Who of course are still involved in the entertainment industry and now have an empire worth tens of millions.

Lovely little country....

Turtyturd · 14-02-2016 11:07pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Remember the morning after..waiting by the phone for our brother who was living in Artane or Raheny at the time and was a regular there. The relief when he phoned at lunchtime, he had gone on the tear and was too drunk after the pub to go there but his friends carried on. They all made it out.

So in his hungover state he got the "thank God you're alive" moving swiftly into a lecture on drinking response from my mum.

My aul fella and uncle had a similar lucky escape.

Was Skellys run by the same people? If it was there were obviously no lessons learned, (mis) spent a lot of my youth there and the place was an accident waiting to happen.

getaroom · 14-02-2016 11:27pm

Graduating from the Grove and Micks in Ballymun, we finally got a southside disco on the northside. Then the morning after the night before watching (I think TISWAS). I missed that night. Friends from Dundaniel Road and Ballyshannon Road never came home.

The TV clips all day.

Visiting the hospital (St James I think), burns victims. 35 years ago.

I have my own problems now. But they are nothing to what the families of the victims go through on a daily basis. I drive through Artane and look at how that unit (or the ground its on) is still there and become emotional.

The Butterly name was truly made infamous that night.

What have we got now? A plaque.

We as kids moved on to the Heartbreakers. For a lot of others time stopped.

Stardust RIP

lazeedaisy · 14-02-2016 11:34pm

I was 13 and lived local. We lost 2 on our road. I will never forget the day after. No one on the streets. It was so quiet. We were all affected as it was a close knit community.

It was horrific for each and every family it affected,

They will always be remembered

bigpink · 15-02-2016 4:15am

Anyone charged over it?

15-02-2016 11:09pm

bigpink wrote: »

Anyone charged over it?

Nope.

The owner lodged an application to sue Dublin Corporation within a week of the fire. When the tribunal bizarrely exonerated him from any culpability despite acknowledging his reckless and dangerous practices of locking exits, he successfully received around 5-600 thousand pounds (over 1m euro in todays terms) in compensation for damages.

The only people who received penalties in connection with the stardust was John Keegan who assaulted Butterly (as portrayed in the drama) and Christy Moore who in the lyrics of his song implied that they died because the fire exits were chained and while we all acknowledge this huge huge contributing factor, in this banana republic it was deemed that Mr Greedy Capitalist-Cut Corners was the only injured party in this whole farce. :mad:

MonkieSocks · 15-02-2016 11:16pm

Lost two good mates in that terrible fire, Eugene & Brendan.

R.I.P the 48

jenny smith · 04-09-2016 8:25pm

Can someone please explain the layout. Was the Silver Swan and Lantern Rooms part of the Stardust? I read of people "being next door in the Lantern Rooms" but that was not burned was it? Was there a physical space between the Stardust, Silver Swan and Lantern Rooms? Did Butterly own all three?

Hoe far away from where the fire was is the Stardust Memorial?

Penny Tration · 04-09-2016 9:58pm

jenny smith wrote: »

Can someone please explain the layout. Was the Silver Swan and Lantern Rooms part of the Stardust? I read of people "being next door in the Lantern Rooms" but that was not burned was it? Was there a physical space between the Stardust, Silver Swan and Lantern Rooms? Did Butterly own all three?

Hoe far away from where the fire was is the Stardust Memorial?

I don't know the layout so can't comment on that. My mam and uncle were both set to go that night, but thankfully decided on other places. They lost a lot of friends that night.

The memorial is in the stardust memorial park, in Coolock. The club/bar was in Artane, across the road from Artane Castle. About 2 minutes of driving or a 15-20 minute walk apart. Most of the victims lived in Coolock.

Outlaw Pete · 04-09-2016 10:31pm

There's a small Stardust Memorial in Beaumont Hospital also.

freshpopcorn · 04-09-2016 11:17pm

I for some reason thought about The Stardust Fire tonight and it's something I'd rarely think about and I clicked into After Hours and the thread was here!

35 years ago today - Stardust

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