No ‘panic, action or control’ when Stardust fire broke out, barman tells inquests

A part-time barman in the Stardust nightclub, in which 48 young people died in a fire in February 1981, said there was no sense of “panic, action or control” on the part of several senior managers on the night when the fire started.

Colm O’Toole, who was 22 at the time, spent up to 90 seconds trying to put out the small fire on a seat in a partitioned-off area in the north Dublin venue, before realising “I couldn’t do this” as flames spread up the walls and across the ceiling.

He then spent about three minutes urging people to leave the venue, hoping to lead people to an exit behind the bar, before realising his own safety was at risk and he left, he told inquests into the deaths on Friday.

Fresh inquests into the deaths of 48 people, aged between 16 and 27, in a fire in the Artane venue in the early hours of February 14th, 1981, are being held in Dublin following a 2019 recommendation by then coroner Séamus Woulfe.

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Mr O’Toole told the inquests he had been alerted to a small fire in a partitioned-off section known as the west alcove by a waitress, Caroline Maher, at about 1.40am. He ran to the adjacent Silver Swan bar where he found Stardust owner Eamon Butterly, assistant manager Jack Walsh, venue manager Brian Peel and senior barman Gerard Guilfoyle.

They seemed already aware of the fire, he said. “I didn’t get a sense of panic. I didn’t get a sense of control. I didn’t get a sense of action.”

Asked if he was given any instructions, he said: “I didn’t wait. I just had a sense of what I thought should be done.” He got a liquid fire extinguisher while someone else approached the still-small fire with a powder extinguisher. When one of the fire-retardant partitions was opened, however, the fire grew rapidly.

“It seemed like the oxygen went in and… it actually seemed to accelerate and it went up and over, and that’s when I realised I couldn’t do this.” The intensity of the heat doubled as the fire began “licking” the carpet tiles on the walls and spreading up into the ceiling void, he said.

“I felt as though it was travelling over my head [inside] the false ceiling and I just had this sense it was now over the ballroom and coming down over the side.”

He retraced his steps back down to the dance floor which was “packed”.

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“There was a lot of people there and [he wanted] to make people aware of what was going on.” He tried to tell people about exits behind the main bar which most would not have been aware of. “I was asking people to get out… telling people there was a fire.”

He disagreed with Des Fahy KC, for the families of nine of the dead, who asked whether it was “total chaos” in the ballroom.

“There was an awful lack of communication… There was only a small number of people who seemed to realise. There was no plan kicked in. So we were kind of acting as individuals. ‘Chaos’ would suggest there were lots of people running around the place. There was just a few people trying to do their best.” At this point he felt there was no more he could do.

“At that point I was thinking about my own safety.” He tried “to bring people” with him towards the main bar and exits behind it, through which he left.

Mr Fahy asked him of “the level of training or instruction you received in relation to fire safety during your employment at the Stardust”.

“Absolutely none,” answered Mr O’Toole.

“No training in relation to evacuation procedures?”

“No.”

“In relation to the use of fire extinguishers?”

“No.”

Earlier on Friday, the inquests heard from the senior DJ on the night, Danny Hughes, who was 33 at the time. He told Sean Guerin SC, for the families of 10 of the dead, he had bought video projector equipment some months before the fire, which he could not use in the Stardust as it caused a “fluctuation” in the electricity.

“It was slowing down the show… So [the contractor] said, as far as he was concerned, the supply was fluctuating.”

Asked if this had been a problem in other venues, he said: “Absolutely no way. It worked perfectly in other places.”