Sparks were seen coming from the ceiling of the Stardust nightclub during concerts up to a month before the blaze, an inquest has heard, with one witness describing it as being like something out of “a disaster movie”.
The jury at the Dublin District Coroner’s Court in the Pillar Room of the Rotunda Hospital today heard evidence from two witnesses who said they saw sparks coming down from the ceiling during live music concerts in the weeks before the fire that killed 48 people when it swept through the Stardust in the early hours of February 14, 1981.
Patrick O’Driscoll gave evidence that he was part of an Elvis Presley tribute band that was playing in the Stardust the week before the fire. He said he saw “a shower of sparks” coming from the ceiling at the backstage area.
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“It was one quick shower. I kept playing, as I thought it was just a power surge,” he said.
He described the sparks as “whitish with a yellowish tint” that came out in an arc of three to four feet.
“It was just a shower. If you were passing a building site and saw a welder and he was welding, that kind of shower, or maybe watching a disaster movie, something like that,” he said.
The jury heard evidence from Suzanne McCluskey, who attended a concert at the Stardust on January 15, 1981. In her original statement made after the Stardust fire, Ms McCluskey, who was still at school at the time, said that during the concert she noticed “sparks flash down from the ceiling”. She said the interval between flashes was about a minute to two minutes, and she noticed it for about ten minutes in total.
“The flashes I saw were a purple colour, they were not a series of flashes, just an odd purple flash,” she said.
Brenda Campbell, representing nine of the families of the deceased, said that an inspection of the Stardust was carried out that night and the inspector felt that the maximum number of 1,400 people permitted under the licence had been exceeded. She asked the witness if this was consistent with her memory, and Ms McCluskey replied that it was.
Edward Woods, a radio telephone operator with Dublin Corporation, gave evidence that on August 29, 1980, he was approached in a pub by a man he knew, Willie Basset. He said Mr Basset told him that he had seen an emergency door locked and chained in the Stardust. Mr Woods said he passed this report on to the relevant person in his department.
“I never carried out an inspection, I just passed it on to the necessary people. I never saw any chained doors,” said Mr Woods.
He confirmed to barrister Simon Mills, a member of the coroner’s legal team, that the report was of a single emergency door that was seen to be locked on a single occasion. Mr Woods said that in his report, he indicated “doors” because an inspector would not come out to look at one door.
“I reported one door padlocked but said that they needed to look at them all,” he said.
In response to a question from the coroner, Dr Myra Cullinane, Mr Woods said he assumed that when he reported the complaint, it would be dealt with.
Ms Campbell asked Mr Woods about an inspection carried out on September 4, 1980, in which an inspector found an exit door in the Silver Swan area of the Stardust chained and locked. She asked Mr Woods if he would consider this a matter of concern.
“I’d be very concerned if I saw that,” he said.
The statement of an unavailable witness, Martin Donoghue, an electrical inspector with Dublin Corporation, was read out by Mr Mills. Mr Donoghue inspected the Stardust premises on several occasions between 1979 and 1981.
On one occasion he noted that a door in the Lantern Room was not opening fully, and another time loose tables were obstructing a passageway to an exit. On another occasion, he found that a panic bar on an exit door was sticking, preventing it from opening easily, and at another time he found that an exit door in the Silver Swan bar was chained and locked. He once again visited the Stardust and found an exit door chained and locked, with the panic bolt broken and a piece hanging loose.
Mr Donoghue said he inspected the Stardust during a concert on January 15, 1981, and he believed the number of people present was in excess of the 1,400 permitted by the licence. He said in his experience, the number was nearer to 2,000, and he found it difficult to move from one exit to another due to the large number of people present.
The jury also heard evidence from Declan Conway, a sales representative for the company that provided the carpet tiles for the Stardust. In his statement, Mr Conway said that drapes for the walls were discussed, but ultimately wall carpet tiles were used. He said he spoke to the manager of the Stardust, Eamon Butterly, who requested that Mr Conway obtain a fire certificate from the manufacturer of the tiles. Mr Conway said he was able to get the certificate that met the British standard specification.
Ms Campbell said that in the original planning for the Stardust, a requirement from the chief fire officer was for all internal wall and ceiling linings to have a minimum of class 1 surface spread of flame rating. Ms Campbell said that during a 1981 inquiry into the fire under Mr Justice Ronan Keane, evidence was given that the thing that contributed most to the spread of the fire was the carpet tiles on the walls. She said that a surface spread of flame test was carried out and these tiles were class 4, not class 1.
“I’m not aware of that, and I can only reiterate that the specification, as far as I was aware and told, met the British standard specification,” said Mr Conway.
“Did anyone say to you, ‘Are we sure this is appropriate if these things are placed on walls?’” asked Ms Campbell.
“No, it never crossed my mind,” said Mr Conway.
The inquest continues tomorrow, when Mr Conway will continue his evidence.
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