Stardust inquests: Woman recalls lying on floor with friend ‘resigned’ to death as fire spread

A survivor of the 1981 Stardust fire has described lying down with her friend on the floor of the ballroom as it became engulfed in flames, “happy” that they had found each other and “resigned that we were going to die”.

Deborah Osbourne, who was 19 at the time of the disaster, told Dublin Coroner’s Court on Thursday that she and Sandra Lawless (18), from Coolock, who perished in the blaze, got separated after they went to get their coats after seeing the fire.

They were there with friends Paula Lewis (19), from Coolock, who also died and Mary Heeney. Ms Osbourne said the lights “dimmed” before they got to their coats and the four held hands as they made towards exit 5.

When the heat became intense, Ms Osbourne said they let go of each other’s hands to protect their faces.

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“I stood there and I couldn’t see a thing,” she said. “I screamed and called their names. Eventually, I fell to the ground...It was very hard to get back up because people were panicking. So I crawled along the floor.

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“The pain of the heat you couldn’t explain to anybody and the fear. I remember thinking. ‘Please let me see the sky. Please let me see my mother and father, please’. The fear never left me but the pain – after a while you don’t feel the pain. The pain just goes away.”

She said she found Sandra. “We were hugging each other. I had her face in my hands and her face was red and she said, ‘Deborah we are going to die’. And I says, ‘No, we’re not Sandra’ and the two of us lay down.

“And at that stage, it’s very hard to explain, you are still scared but you don’t feel anything...I hope this brings solace to Sandra’s father and Paula’s mother, you don’t feel anything. It’s like you’re going somewhere nice,” she said.

“I was just going somewhere nice. You’re going toward something. It’s there and you’re just reaching to get to that place. We were happy to find each other. We wanted to go to sleep. That’s the way it felt.”

Ms Lawless’s siblings and father, Paul, were present at day 73 of fresh inquests into the deaths of 48 people, aged 16 to 27, in the north Dublin nightclub fire in the early hours of February 14th, 1981.

Ms Osbourne said the fact that tables and chairs were fixed to the floor impeded their exit.

“You think you’re going to die. The end has come. That was it. The end has come. It did get to a stage that we were resigned we were going to die. I found Sandra. I was happy and I know she was happy. And I am glad I saw her before she died. We were happy we found each other in that moment.”

Ms Osbourne said she was then “prodded” by Ms Heeney who told her to get up. “I said, ‘I can’t. I can’t.’ But I got up and to this day I don’t know why I didn’t take Sandra with me. I am sorry. We stumbled, maybe a foot and felt fresh air. We crawled out through exit 5.”

Testimony from Damien Fallon, who was 16 at the time, was read into the record. He described witnessing a girl inside exit 5, at the side of the venue, “making for the door”.

“It appeared she was running around in circles. Everyone was shouting to tell her where door was. She had no dress. It was burnt off. Everyone was shouting to her. She made for the door. She was coming to the door when a ball of flames came from the ceiling and she was engulfed by the flames...She fell on her back. Her arms and legs were in the air and she stayed in that position. After that, there were flames all around her and that was the last I saw of her.”

Donal Clinch, who was 19 at the time, got out through exit 5, which he said “wouldn’t open” at first. Just as he got to it, the lights went out, he recalled.

From outside he could hear people screaming inside but could not see them because of “thick, black smoke”. He got down on his hands and knees and while someone held his feet, reached inside and after “feeling about” pulled “two or three” people out.

One of the two friends he was with that night was John Colgan, then aged 21, from Swords, who died. Mr Colgan had been driving that night and went back to their table to get his jacket when they saw the fire, as his car keys were in his jacket.

He saw his other friend, Kenneth Moffat at the Mater hospital later, but “poor John I never heard,” he said.

John’s sister, Susan Behan, was present in the public gallery on Thursday.

The inquests continue on Friday.