All language subtitles for Stardust.2024.S01E03.Truth.1080p.RTE.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

Did you bring the Lucozade
with ya?

I did.

Liam has the Lucozade for all your
energy.

I don't want it now.

News report: The jury in the inquest
into the deaths of 48 people

in the 1981 Stardust Fire

will deliver a verdict at 2 this
afternoon.

Please God, bring us justice.

I know it's not going to bring them
back.

Never bring them back.

Phyllis McHugh: That's all we want.

We don't want anything else,
just the truth.

Maurice McHugh: Hopefully this
inquest will give us

some sense of relief
that we'll get justice.

If you got truth,

at least it would be something to
say,

Well, that's what happened on that
night.

Hopefully, this is it now.

We can all sit down somewhere

and have a drink and talk about it
and say, you know?

See what happens.

You can see Pat Kennedy, please God.

< That it will be unlawful killing.

That's what we hope,
because that's what it was.

There has to be an end for these
families,

the parents of some of them have
already passed on.

And a lot of them are getting closer
to passing on -

it'll be just final closure for them
to go in peace.

Pat Dunne: I need to know why,
and I want justice sorted.

And I know you'll never have closure,

but a certain closure that I'll have
that I'll say, That's what happened.

It's okay.

All our family ever wanted

was to know what happened to our
loved ones.

We only ever wanted truth and
justice.

News report: Tonight, survivors and
relatives of the Stardust tragedy

are holding a vigil outside Leinster
House.

Everything that the Stardust
families

have campaigned for,

they've had to embarrass the state
into doing.

Everything has been as a result
of families

picketing government buildings,
standing out in the cold,

right up until their 70s and 80s,
still fighting.

And so tonight, the families are
still

some distance away from the fresh
inquiry they so desperately want.

Efforts were made to evacuate
some of the dancers

through windows that were heavily
barbed.

It was an appalling scene outside
the ballroom

with frantic cries for help.

The fire which leapt through the
ballroom

in the early hours of Valentine's Day
caught 800 of them unaware.

The fleet of ambulances ferried the
dead and more than 200 injured...

Tony McCullagh: I don't think the
immediate communities

of Artane and Coolock ever fully
recovered.

I think it's ingrained
in so many families.

Everybody knows somebody
who was in there that night.

The impact that it had
on families was incredible.

They were described actually years
later

by a psychologist as an extremely
ill population,

and they never received proper
counseling or care.

And a lot of these families were
just forgotten about by the state.

I was three months in Steevens'
Hospital,

and I wasn't the worst one there.

I don't remember coming home.

In the community, everyone was sad,

and people were afraid to

get on with their life because they
didn't

want it to affect the people
who had had the loss.

So there was an awful lot of holding
back

in sympathy with the families.

Phyllis Campbell: We were staff.

We felt guilty that we got out
and all those people didn't.

Some people turned to drink,
some people turned to drugs,

and other people didn't turn to
drink or drugs

and still took their own lives

because they just couldn't deal
with

what was going on in their
heads.

You're afraid to talk too much about
it.

So everybody kept it all inside.

Some people could deal with it,
and some people couldn't.

I was the worst burns survivor and
the longest in hospital,

so basically, I was in from the
night

of the Stardust until
June 1981.

Thereafter, I was in and out

for reconstructive surgery on my
hands.

There was a few of my friends
killed,

about 60 of my friends were
killed that night, actually.

60 people we were with that night.

I talk better with my family and
my friends I have left

because so many of my friends,
I lost them because,

being in hospital so long,
they all found girls and that.

And they haven't got time for coming
up all the time,

which I don't blame them.

The doctor said, You know, you may
never use your hands again.

Because I couldn't even button my
shirt,

tie a lace, hold a knife and fork.

Everything was done for me,

even to the point of going to the
bathroom with my father

because he had to do... like to wipe
me and everything else.

That's so... It's very degrading to
you as a young man,

and you should have all your
faculties,

your whereabouts how to do
everything.

But now you're back to, I'm an
infant,

but I don't want to be an infant,

so you're going to have to do
something about this.

Valerie Deasy: I kinda hid a little
bit.

I'd kind of look out on the road

before I would leave if I was going
anywhere.

The very first time I went to the
cinema after the fire,

and the lights go out, the film to
start,

and I ran out of the place

because I thought, Here
we go again -

The lights has gone down.

But I never really spoke about it
to anybody,

and I never got involved with
campaigns or anything like that

because I always had that sense
of guilt that I was alive,

and these people had their
family members who were all dead.

News report: Scenes of grief seen
earlier at the funeral

of Brian Hobbs from Whitehall.

Hundreds of mourners had to stand
outside

of the church because
of the size of the crowd inside.

Pat Dunne: The immediate aftermath
stands out for me

in lots of ways.

Mom thought he would come back.

They had the old age pass, the two of
them.

She said to me, I think we
go to Galway for the Easter.

And I'm going, Yeah, that should be
good.

Galway is nice.

The year before Brian died,

he was in the Great Southern in
Galway.

So when Mom got back, she said,

I didn't tell your dad but I was
looking for him.

S said, There was two boys dressed
very like him at different stages,

and I tapped them and turned
them around, but wasn't him.

And I go, Mom, come on, hold on.

And then every so often she'd say to
me,

Do you think he's somewhere?

Do you think he could be
in London or something?

Or could he be here?
Could he be there?

I said, No, he was not.

News report: They called the guard of
honour as her

relatives carried the coffin
out for the funeral

to St. Fintan's Cemetery in Sutton.

News report: For one family, the
McDermotts,

three of their children, Willy,
Marcella,

and George, perished together in the
fire.

The enormity of this loss

has devastated the McDermott
household.

It was devastating for a
firefighter's family.

He would have been bringing stories
home

through the years, and all of a
sudden,

they'd become the story.

Me mother was blaming me father.

You should have been working that
night.

Then my father was blaming me
mother.

You should have known
that she wasn't babysitting.

So there was constant arguing and
blaming in the house all the time.

She was so lost in her own grief

that she couldn't focus on our
grief.

Understandably because they were her
kids,

and it was different for a mother.

News report: Devastated the
McDermott household,

parents are still overwhelmed
by their grief,

emotionally bruised by this
cruel...

...and in the congregation,
many people wept openly.

For others, they could
barely hold back their grief.

Errol Buckley: Jimmy was 23.

I was 18.

I couldn't believe it,

that Jimmy was gone.

I just had to get out of the
country.

I just had enough of Donnycarney and
me friends, they were in America,

and they'll just ring me and tell me
to come over,

you know what I mean?

So we eventually just went in, you
know.

There was no network support at all,

except for the neighbours.

Sure there was never even any
inquiries why we weren't in school,

myself and my sister, because we
were 11 and 12.

I remember learning how to cook

because my mother used to lock
herself in her bedroom.

She wouldn't come out for days,
weeks.

I used to just leave her
food outside at the door.

My mother, they sent her
to a place up on Edenmore.

They put a little apron on her,

and they gave her these little
patches to sew in it for hours.

And then a doctor would see
me every day,

and it was the one thing, every day,

I'd to repeat myself.

And that's when they told
her that she was going mad.

And that's when she said, No,

she took the apron off for the last
time.

She said, I'm not mad.
She says, I've lost three children.

And I just walked out.

And that's the help I got.

The girls didn't even get help.

Nothing.

I said to her, Why do you want to
die?

I said, Did you love them
more than you loved me?

And she said that sort of woke her
up.

Probably sounds horrible, a young
child saying that to somebody,

but I suppose that's the way I felt
at the time

because I hadn't got her.

You know?

News report: 2,000 mourners gathered
in Beaumont

for the funeral of Caroline McHugh.

At the graveside, men, women,

and children wept openly

as the remains of Caroline, aged 17,
were carried in.

She was an only child.

I am the resurrection in

the life of the man who believes in
me, even though he died...

We never did anything for four
years after Caroline died.

People would keep away from us.

They didn't want to talk to us.

I think it was just they
didn't know what to be saying.

I tell you one thing, some people
never let us forget

that we were away.

And to this day, people say, Oh,
weren't you away when it happened?

What we do is, we get stuck into our
work,

and we'd work maybe seven
days a week, no problem.

We just put it,
blocked it out of our head.

It was a form of escapism, if you
like.

News report: The three coffins of
three friends,

victims of last Saturday
morning, Stardust Tragedy.

They contained the remains of Mary
Keegan,

aged 19, and her 16 and a half year
old

sister Martina, and their friend
Mary Kenny.

I was with Mary and Martina,
and I got out.

I felt guilty that they
were dead, and I'm alive.

So it was just horrible.

...the happiness of them.

We ask this to Christ...

This funeral, perhaps as much as any
of them,

summed up the horror of
Stardust.

Four friends attended the only one
survived,

and she's still in
hospital.

I said if I talk about it,

it's going to keep coming back to
me.

I tried my best of blank it.

I tried everything that I could do,
right?

The darkness frightened me.

The night time frightened me.

Night time became daytime for me.

I would drink all night and stay
awake

and sleep all day.

My whole mode of living changed.

Selina McDermott: My dad then, he
started drinking really heavy.

He was off work for a long time.

He was a good fireman.

He went back to work for a while.

But in the end, he had to retire.

He couldn't cope.
Yeah.

sure I didnt blame him he took to
the drink very bad.

Yeah.

My father, the heavier he drank,
the harder it was for my mother.

So as the years went on and on, my
mother,

myself, and Louise then left
my father in the home in Edenmore.

I just couldn't talk to him.

I'd say a lot of marriages broke up
and mine did.

Yeah.

He lived there on his own,
and then he just gave up.

I think he was 64 when he died.

He just didn't want to be alive
anymore.

You know?

News report: This is where the
tragedy all began,

early on the morning of St.
Valentine's Day, February the 14th.

More than 800 people were packed
into this

ballroom for the finals
of a disco dancing competition.

By 1:44, the first firemen were on
their way.

At the Stardust, they met
scenes of utter panic.

Some of the panic-stricken youngsters
had run into the club's toilets.

The windows were covered with welded
steel sheets...

Tony McCullagh: The first responders
are often overlooked

in the Stardust story.

It was so distressing that you just

can't imagine what it must
have been like for them.

I dealt with it because I put it out
of my mind,

as best I could and fought
to improve the fire service.

If you asked me to put a face or
anything

on any of the kids, I wouldn't be
able to remember them.

I couldn't do it.

And most of the time I were
traumatised.

But there was no counseling.

In those days,

the only counseling that they got was
from the senior men,

Suck it up, and the only other
alternative was to get drunk.

News report: As the fire raged, young
people rushed for the exits,

stumbling over each other in panic
and confusion.

Firemen tried to resuscitate the
many young people

who were overcome by the thick
and dense smoke.

It took me a good while
to come to terms with it.

I wasn't that anxious to talk
about it, like afterwards.

I suppose there would be a certain
amount of alcohol

and that over the years.

There's a lot of fairly
heavy drinking in the guards.

So some people wouldn't understand
that

or say that that was the wrong way
to do it

but it was the only way at the time.

But then again, you were supposed to
be tough

and to put up with those
things.

I'm not sure it was as simple as
that.

I don't think anybody
could get on with it.

Over in the morgue, it was terrible.

You read something in the paper and,
of course,

you get flashbacks of the bodies in
the tent at the morgue.

And you say, No, don't think about
that.

Get that out of your head.

And you think of something else,
or you go and do something else.

When you think about it,

you're really looking after your own
mind as well.

If you let it get in on you it could
upset you, you know.

News report: The Stardust Victims
Committee brought

their campaign to Dublin district
Court.

I always felt, nationally,

the various governments just
wished this would go away.

And it was down to the Relatives
Committee

and the media that kept the subject
in the public eye.

Bridget McDermott: We were out
canvassing in all kinds of weather.

To try and raise money
to pay these solicitors.

You do think back of all the
campaigning

around emptying buckets of pennies
on my mother's table

to pay a solicitor, to buy printing
paper, to do it ourselves,

because the state weren't
going to do it for us.

Untold stories of trauma, guilt,
suicide, survival, and disbelief too.

Years on, still no arsonist,
still no answers.

After the compensation tribunal
wrapped up

towards the late 1980s,

there was a lull until probably the
20th anniversary,

and it led to calls for a new
inquiry.

And that led to the appointment
of Senior Counsel

Paul Coffey in
2008,

who was to look into the
evidence presented to him.

Their family's pain and anger was
still palpable as they arrived

for the first day of this fresh
independent assessment.

The evidence is there and that the
experts are here for today

to prove our case that the fire
didn't start on a scene.

The significant finding was the
original probable arson verdict

should be struck from the public
record.

News report: Relief and joy.

The family is leaving government
buildings

this afternoon with the news
they'd waited 28 years to hear.

In 1981, an inquiry found the
cause

of the blaze was probably arson,

but a new report has rejected that
finding.

Every obstacle that got in our
way,

we fought back against it and we
were determined

that we were going to get justice
for the 48 victims.

We feel things can only
get better now for us.

But it still doesn't stop.

I miss them so much,

but at least we've done something
for them today.

Mr. Coffey concludes that the finding
of probable arson

was on its face a mere hypothetical
finding only.

The government wishes to acknowledge
that as a matter of fact,

the actual cause of the catastrophic
fire is unknown.

None of the victims of the Stardust
disaster or the persons present

at the Stardust on the night of the
fire

can be held responsible for the fire.

Tonight is a vindication of the
heroic

and valiant 28-year-long campaign
by the Stardust families

to achieve some level of justice
for their loved ones

and for the survivors
of the 1981 Stardust inferno.

When arson was ruled out,
that was a big thing.

Because all the families
always contested that.

I kinda of knew from the
beginning it wasn't probable arson.

It's not a concrete word.

Like you either say it was
arson or it wasn't arson.

But probable, that's no answer.

Probable can cover anything.

When they found then that it wasn't
probable arson, I'm going,

Right, that should have been done
from the beginning.

Justice Coffey said there
was no reason why

the first tribunal said that.

No earthly explanation for it at
all.

So it was written off out of the
books.

But we never heard anything more.

We never heard an apology from the
government saying it was wrong.

Anyway.

So that's what Coffey recommended
and then arson was removed.

We thought it was great,

and we're going to get somewhere
now with a criminal investigation.

There was nothing.

Nothing at all done.

So that's why we had to keep
going and going and going.

With the removal of this finding,

the onus was on the state to
investigate

what the cause of the fire was.

So that eventually led to Pat
McCartan,

a retired judge, being appointed to
review the evidence.

He was a former Workers Party TD for
the area.

He reported later in 2017

that he did not believe that there
was a scope for a new inquiry,

and it was a bitter blow to the
families.

News report: Families of victims say
questions remain unanswered.

They are not satisfied with the most
recent report by Judge Pat McCartan.

It concluded that no new inquiry
into the fire is warranted.

In particular, it was the language
he used

in the report thatreally insulted
the families.

He used words like, The evidence
that

had been presented to him was
at times incoherent.

It was argumentative.

It was disorganised.

It was rambling.

It has to be remembered that
they couldn't possibly be be held

to the legal standards that would
be expected of them.

Pat Dunne: I had to hope that he
wasn't in anyone's pocket

and he was in a party
that I was okay with.

I'm thinking, grand.

Shocked by his outcome, shocked
by what he said.

I was floored with the results.

That was devastating because then we
were like,

Where do we go from here?

There have been so many false dawns

form the Stardust families over the
years.

There's been so much optimism.

There'll be new evidence or new
investigations opened up,

and time after time,

their expectations have been dashed,

but they always seem to

manage to pick themselves up again
and find a different route.

I knew about the Stardust, but I
didn't know very much about it.

On a weekend away with my family,

I entered a bookshop,

having made the novel mistake

of leaving home without any books to
read.

And at the very front of the shop
was the Stardust book.

I purchased it, and having read it,

I was left with a deep sense of why

this real tragedy had been left
unanswered.

As it is the 42nd anniversary

of the biggest disaster in the
history of the state,

that we are here today and still
know justice to our loved ones.

So I agreed to meet the family
to see if we could assist.

I'll never forget the first meeting
because the questions

that I had arising from the book and
reading

the McCartan review effectively
remain unanswered

in that we have three investigations

back to back, which effectively
produce

the conclusions of we're not
really sure what happened.

James Buckley.

There are questions that are
unanswered.

There was a need
for a fresh investigation.

Paula Byrne.

The inquest years ago
lasted a very short time,

and all they effectively concluded
was

that people died as a result
of burning at the Stardust Fire.

The reality is the inquests were
ineffective,

that they weren't thorough.

The inquest we had was
only a medical statement.

Mr. and Mrs. McHugh,

Caroline - body, badly charred on
just the torso -

they couldn't measure her height.

Obviously, no legs.

No hair.

And then they called the next
person. That was it.

That was it.

That was supposed to be an
inquest.

We took the view that we should
start

making an application for a fresh
inquest.

Fresh inquests are very
difficult to obtain.

By their very nature,

the inquest has already occurred,

and therefore this is a second
inquest.

It's a fresh inquest.

And the discretion to hold such a
fresh inquest

lies at the door of the Attorney
General.

It was our view that a properly set
up

inquest could be used
to establish the truth.

Inquests in recent times,

through the development of the
European Convention on Human Rights,

they have more teeth than they
ordinarily would have had

many years ago.

It's a model that's used in Belfast

on almost a daily basis
with regards to legacy cases.

It's a model that was used
in the Hillsborough tragedy.

It's a model that simply works for
cases of this kind,

and it establishes in clear
terms that despite

the passage of time,

an inquest which can hear
from which

can hear from witnesses,

can come to conclusions.

News report: 48 people lost their
lives in the Stardust Fire,

and their families spent the past
few months collecting signatures

on postcards petitioning the
Attorney General

to reopen the inquest.

And I know it says 48.

There's so many others as well.

which demonstrated to the Attorney
General and to the wider public

the sheer importance and public
interest in establishing the truth.

That bore out into the postcard
campaign

led by Lynn Boylan alongside
the family members.

Antoinette Keegan: We got
48,000 postcards printed

on the front of a head truth.

Selina McDermott: 48,000 a postcard
signed,

and it'd go to the Attorney General
to say

that you were supporting a new
inquiry to be opened for the 48.

And what we done was we travelled
north,

south, east, and west of Ireland.

We went to Strasbourg we went to
Brussels.

The more support the family's got,
the more energy they gained,

and their energy became contagious,
and the process continued.

And we got 48,000 cards signed,

and we delivered them to the
Attorney General,

and it was a It was an absolutely
fantastic day.

There was that many postcards that
they

all had to be collated into the
heavy duty boxes.

People had to take turns
and lift them - the sheer weight.

Selina McDermott: We said we'd walk
from Pearse Street station up

to the Attorney General's office
and hand in, literally hand in.

And when we got there,
there was

hundreds of people there to support
us.

Hold the box up in the air.
That's it.

But we didn't realize that the
amount of people that were there.

We just he felt we can't ignore
48,000 signatures from the public.

You know, we're not on our own now.

We have the people of Ireland behind
us.

We could feel that there was
a change in the air.

We could feel it definitely that
day.

That's lovely. Thank you.

(overlapping chatter)

Phyllis McHugh: That's all we want.

Under the coroner's act, Seamus
Woulfe does have

the power to order a second
inquest.

Darragh Mackin: Once the application
was made for a fresh inquest,

it was then a waiting game as to
when the decision

would eventually come.

Leo Varadkar: I did speak to the
Attorney General this morning.

He will give us full consideration

and we'll look at it afresh with an
open mind.

I welcome that.

We then received a notice
from the then Attorney General,

Mr. Seamus Woulfe, Senior Counsel.

Darragh Mackin rang me.

I was at home with my mother,
and he goes, Antoinette, he said,

The Attorney General's
after ordering

the inquest to be opened.

And of course, my mother couldn't
hear it,

but I screamed and I was jumping
around.

I said, Brilliant, brilliant.

And my mom sitting in the chair,
and she goes, What's going on?

What's going on? I said ma,
the inquest, it's getting opened.

And she goes, Oh, that's fantastic.

She was delighted.

News report: 38 years on, the
Attorney General has confirmed

that new inquests are to be held
into the Stardust Fire.

We just couldn't believe it.

We got upset.

But we couldn't believe it
was - after all these years.

It would appear that the passage of
time

is not as big a barrier as
one might have considered.

The Irish Daily Mail and Herald

lead with yesterday's announcement
that a new

inquest into the 1981 Stardust Fire
is to get underway.

Darragh Mackin: All of them crammed
into a very small room

in Buswells Hotel to comment upon
their reaction to the outcome.

This has gone on for so long,

and this is where we said we will
not give up,

never give up until we get truth
and justice for our loved ones.

They had to achieved what people said
was unachievable.

They had achieved a fresh
inquest into this atrocity.

And that day in Buswells Hotel will
forever signify

the sheer relentless nature that
these families had,

the sheer energy that they had.

What are you hoping
to achieve at the inquest?

What might be the next steps after
that?

Basic ask, the truth of what
happened.

After that, we said that on our case,

if we are correct, if the expert
evidence stands up,

then the reality is that there are
people who must be

held accountable for what happened
that night.

(applause)

Radio broadcast: The latest travel
news from the AA,

travel more than two kilometers from
your

home must be avoided in line
with government restrictions.

The only journeys that should be
made

are to attend essential work or
remuneration...

My poor mother passed away, right -

she was 84.

Half her life was spent
fighting for justice.

Her dying wish was, right, and her
dying breath,

right, to get the inquest
opened.

My father passed away at a young
age, 49 years of age.

If they had been still alive right,
they would never give up, never.

Selina McDermott: We knew there'd be
obstacles,

big time, big time, even to get
to having a date of the inquest.

Before the inquest, the families
signaled

the one potential verdict that they
wanted

on the cards is that of unlawful
killing.

That was met with huge resistance
by the lawyer to represent

Mr. Butterly.

News report: Former manager, Eamonn
Butterly

wanted the court to rule that a
verdict

of unlawful killing should not be
open to the jury at the inquest.

Today, Justice Charles Meenan
rejected that challenge.

The high court made it clear

that the verdict of unlawful killing

would and could and should remain on
the table.

News report: This was a day they'd
campaigned for for years.

A day some of them said they
thought might never come.

The first official real day that the
inquest is actually starting.

So it's a big, big day for us
families.

It's been a long journey.

Selina McDermott: When Darragh was
in the house the other week,

he said, Are you ready, Bridget?

He said, You ready?
And she said, I'm ready 42 years.

She said, I'm ready 42 years.

It heralds the beginning
of finding justice.

We hope at the end of this inquest
that we get to know

what really happened on that night,
on Valentine's morning.

Tony McCullagh: Some of the people
I've been dealing with

since the late '80s, they have
spent half their lifetime

campaigning for justice,

and some of them have sadly passed
away.

It's absolutely consumed them,
their every waking moment.

And they felt that because they were

working class communities
that they were treated differently,

they werent treated with the same
respect

that perhaps more affluent
areas of Ireland

would have been dealt with by the
authorities.

There was probably an element
of embarrassment

when you think that over 800 young
people

could go out to enjoy
themselves,

something that people
would take for granted,

and that 48 would die, and over 230
would be injured.

It is a shameful thing.

Darragh Mackin: Many know that this
is the last gasp saloon.

The battleground has been laid,

and in my view, the evidence
speaks for itself.

And if the jury can and do establish
the truth,

justice would be done for these
families.

I'm happy I'm here today.

And that's what kept me
alive, to be here today.

It is, as we understand,

the first inquest in the Republic of
Ireland

to hear Pen Portrait
evidence.

Antoinette: Pen Portrait is actually
a family member

that would give a description of
their

brother, their sister,
their son, or their daughter.

Selina McDermott: We're showing the
jury that these are people.

They were human beings,

and they went down in the night but
never came home.

It reminds everybody, all of the
lawyers,

this is more than just
a simple legal case.

This is about a real person.

These are people that had lives

that were looking forward to their
future,

and then it was just taken away from
them.

News report: These inquests before
the coroner, Dr. Myra Cullinan

and a 13-person jury, have now...
...in Artane, Dublin...

When certain inquests where deaths
are suspicious,

the coroner has the discretion to
hear from a jury.

At the start of this process,

we made it clear that we wanted
a jury to hear the inquest.

We thought it would be best suited

that a jury should be filled
in for a case like this.

Selina: It was very important for
us to be there,

even though it was upsetting.

And then you were happy one
day,

you could be annoyed another
day.

It was a mix of emotions for the
year.

It was crazy.

Pat Dunne: The young staff witnessed
the fire, witnessed the people dying.

I found that heartbreaking.

There were 16, 17 that cleared
tables or gave out meals,

and they were broken and still are,
because they still have that memory.

It was a emotional and heartbreaking
listening to some of the

witnesses talking about what they
experienced.

Fresh evidence comes in a variety of
different ways.

There's the most obvious fresh
evidence,

which is victims who were there
that night

who've never given evidence.

I was never asked to go to the
Tribunal of Inquiry,

which was set by Justice Ronald
Keane.

So this inquest is the first time

I've actually ever given evidence in
42 years.

News report: Antoinette Keegan,

today, she was giving evidence
telling the jury

of her experiences on
the night.

It was difficult from the start
to the end,

just reliving the whole
lot,

recollecting every single
movement,

every minute and every second.

It was important to get it all
out today.

News report: The former manager of
the Stardust Club has taken

to the witness box at the inquests
into the deaths of the 48 people

who died when a fire swept through
the building during a disco in 1981.

Eamonn Butterly, who's now
78,

was 36 when the fire broke
out.

Darragh Mackin: In 43 years, many of
these people have never seen

Mr. Butterly in real life.

Many people believe that they never
would

have seen him actually
give evidence in the court.

News report: At the time of the fire,

he said today he was not the owner
of the premises

and that his father was the
boss.

The court heard how when he was
first...

We were all very tense and
nervous,

and it was like a bit surreal.

Pat Dunne: There was a pretty
palpable air,

with just a lot of people that never
met him and all going,

That's what it's all about.

And that's not what it's all about.

It's finding out what happened.

News report: This was day 2 of Eamonn
Butterly's direct evidence

asked if welding steel
sheets

to the windows of toilets
had been an overreaction.

Eamonn Butterly said that toilets
were toilets,

they weren't fire escapes.

This was day three of his direct
evidence.

Mr. O'Higgins also said the policy of
locking doors

was in fact introduced by you.

No, replied Mr. Butterly.

This was day four of Eamonn
Butterly's direct evidence.

Eamonn Butterly repeated that he was
told

that all the fire doors were
open.

It was put to him that the electrical
installation in the premises

was so poor that at any time a fire
might have started.

You are so wrong, Eamonn Butterly
said.

It was the best wired premises
around.

Eamonn Butterly spent around 30 hours

in total giving direct evidence to
these inquests,

the longest of any witness so far at
these hearings.

And unlikely to be surpassed.

The jury began hearing
evidence from fire experts.

Dr. Will Hutchinson told the court
the most likely scenario

was the fire originated in the hot
press in the main bar.

The court heard how there were
connection issues...

Darragh Mackin: It became clear that
the one place

that when you put all the evidence
together,

a hot press makes complete sense.

The fire starts in the hot press.

It makes its way into the roof space,

and then it drops into the west
alcove.

And then that is the time which
people inside see the fire.

Pat Dunne: They really only saw
what was in that corner.

And that's why everyone
thought it started there.

But it was really raging
across the ceiling.

Selina McDermott: And that's why the
people and the outside,

neighbors and all that, could see
the fire.

Pat Dunne: The kids were all sitting,
dancing and enjoying themselves.

They hadn't a clue.

They hadn't a clue.

Just after four o'clock today,

the coroner sent the jury out to
consider its verdict.

Dr. Myra Cullinan told the jurors
these inquests

were a fact-finding exercise and not
a trial.

She said no person can be identified
or were identifiable

as being responsible for the deaths.

The jury at the Stardust Fire
inquest has

said it still needs time
to consider its verdict.

Pat Dunne: It's a huge job for the
jury.

They have been 122 days
now listening to our story.

I'm hopeful in the sense
that we get what we want.

I'm apprehensive in that we may not.

And I'm nervous in case
we don't get what we want,

and we're standing there and going,
My God, what has all this been for?

Maurice McHugh: We hope that when
it's over, that we'll be able to

get on with our lives like a normal
couple could do.

I don't know how long the jury
are going to be,

but we've waited 43 years now, I
suppose.

Another few weeks, it's not going
to make much difference then.

Phyllis McHugh: I hope it's unlawful
killing.

But we just have to hope, that's
all. We just have to hope.

Mr. Harris for Taoiseach.

I pray every day it will happen for
sure.

Please God, it will happen, yeah.

Antoinette Keegan: I'm nervous, to
be honest with you,

because, over the years, right,

years every time I got my hopes
built up I came down with a bang.

It has been a tough year.

I actually do feel tired after it.

Darragh Mackin: It isn't like any
ordinary case.

We're simply waiting on a verdict.

I think I can say for everybody,
we were at that stage all feeling

sick to our stomach about
what could possibly happen.

Is it all mixed emotions
that you have today, or...?

Just anxious.

Anxious, yeah.

Anxious.

Antoinette Keegan: Because I have a
real nerve-wracking day,

really and truly.

We knew we were going to get ready
for 2 o'clock.

Selina McDermott: The amount of
people that were pouring

into the court was just
overwhelming.

You know?

Pat Dunne: It's very difficult.

It's not clear cut and I thought we
have a clearer picture at this stage.

Jimmy Fitzpatrick: There's a sense
of trepidation

with everybody and nerves because
of the length of time.

And now we can see the finish line,
but we're not quite there yet.

Darragh Mackin: There was not a
seat in the house.

The nervousness in the room was
palpable.

Antoinette: The coroner, she came
out

and it was all rise and everyone
rose.

We were looking at the jury.

Darragh Mackin: First question the
jury got was,

can you establish the cause of the
fire?

And the answer was yes.

And if so, where was it?

Hot press.

The electrical fault in the hot
press.

Pat Dunne: When they said hot press,
I thought, My God.

Were any of the exits locked,
chained, or obstructed?

And we got yes.
Pat Dunne: That was huge.

Darragh Mackin: We were getting the
findings we wanted.

Were we going to get to the unlawful
killing final verdict?

The Coroner said, So what is the
verdict?

The pause between the Coroner's
question

and the jury foreman's
answer felt like a lifetime.

He just went forward into the
microphone,

and said, Unlawful killing.

Unlawful killing.

The entire courtroom erupted.

Everyone jumped up and clapped.

There was whistles, cheers, crying.

It was magic.

It was just magic.

Yeah, it was.

It was just everyone was delighted,
finally,

they have a verdict.

The first two discernible words I
heard was a lady did the right of me.

All I heard was at last.

I thought of George, Willie and
Marcella when he said it.

Because it was for them.

It wasn't for us in the courtroom.

It was for them, for the 48.

(cheering)

Selina McDermott: We went through
those gates, and those gates opened.

It was like the flood
of truth now is out there.

It's out there for everybody to
hear.

Jimmy Fitzpatrick: It'll be written
into the books,

and they can't take that away from
us.

Unlawful killing.

Antoinette Keegan: It was absolutely
overwhelming - really and truly -

the biggest and best day of my whole
life since the night of the fire.

Absolutely overwhelming.

Phyllis McHugh: I'm very emotional
today.

It was really now very, very
emotional,

but I was delighted when
the verdict came out as

unlawful killing because the kids
deserved it.

Pat Dunne: I'm relieved -
a very emotional day -

Brian has gone from being
29 to Brian Hobbs.

I just burst into tears, I couldnt
believe it.

I've prayed so hard for this day,
and it's come.

Thank you.

Behind camera: You never gave up.

You never gave up.

No. No.

They can rest now.

Yes.
Thank you.

Fair play to ya.

Thank you.

Leas-Cheann Comhairle: I want to
acknowledge the presence here

today of the families of the 48
victims of the Stardust Fire.

(applause)

Simon Harris: Today we say formally,

and without any equivocation, we are
sorry.

We failed you when you needed us the
most.

From the very beginning,

we should have stood with you,

but instead,

we forced you to stand against us.

The apology was fine and it was good.
It was great.

And he came around
and shook everyone's hand.

And that was good.

It was really and truly a huge thing
for me

to hear the state
apologising.

All we wanted, ever wanted,
was truth and justice.

We've got truth.

We'll wait for justice now.

But it's not the end or the final.

We still have stuff to go.

We have got the truth.

I need accountability.

The apology was very much
bittersweet

because it was very
late.

Very, very late.

Is it too late?

I feel, no, it's not too late.

Because if we hadn't have got
it now,

we still would have been fighting.

The 48, they needed that apology.

They did need it, you know?

Bitter sweet that they're not here,
but we carry their memories.

Subtitling
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