Tributes paid to Stardust victims on 40th anniversary of Valentine's day tragedy

by James Ward, PA

Tributes have been paid to the 48 victims of the Stardust nightclub fire on the 40th anniversary of the tragedy.

A fresh inquiry into the events at the Artane nightclub on Valentine’s Day 1981 is to take place at Dublin Castle later this year, following years of campaigning by victims families.

More than 800 people attended the disco that night and, despite two inquiries into the disaster, nobody has ever been held responsible.

Police stand outside the main entrance of a fire-blackened Stardust Disco in Artane, Dublin, where in the early hours 48 youngsters perished in a fire

On Sunday, family members marked the anniversary with a vigil at the location where the Stardust once stood.

Suzanne Keegan, Lorraine, Antoinette and Damien at a memorial to mark the 40th anniversary of the Stardust Disco fire disaster in Dublin. 48 people died and 214 were injured in the Artane nightclub fire, which broke out on Valentine's night in 1981.

Antoinette Keegan was among those who survived, but she lost her two sisters, Mary and Martina.

“We were pushed to the floor, and people were running over us,” she told Newstalk.

“All I could remember thinking was, ‘We’re never going to get out, please God, help us, help us’.

“But we couldn’t breathe, the smoke was that thick and it was going into your throat and stopping you from breathing.

“And then the heat and trying to hold your hand over your head because of the flames and stuff right on top of you.

“It was like being in hell, that’s what it was like, being in hell and I’ll never forget it.”

Survivor Antoinette Keegan

Tributes flooded in on Sunday for the 48 people who lost their lives, and the 214 others who were injured.

Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald tweeted: “Forty years ago forty-eight young souls perished in the Stardust. The pain and hurt is felt to this day. Forty years later their families still wait for justice and truth #JFT48”

In a statement on Twitter, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said: “40 years today since the Stardust fire. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims.

“Many INMO members were on duty that night and well remember the terrible events. Pictured is the memorial to the victims in Beaumont Hospital.”

A spokesperson for Dublin Fire Brigade said: “On this day in 1981, Ireland woke to the news of a devastating fire in a nightclub in Artane.

“Let us take time to remember the 48 who never came home, their families, the injured and all those who responded on the night.”