‘I wonder was that my sister’s body, that dot on the map... That was very hard to hear’
Devastated Selina’s agony at harrowing evidence
SELINA Mcdermott thought there was nothing more she could learn about the Stardust fire that claimed the lives of three of her siblings.
She and her family have spent 42 years fighting for the truth to come out about the worst tragedy in the history of the State.
The fire at a Valentine’s event at the nightclub in Artane, North Dublin, in the early hours of February 14, 1981 claimed 48 young lives and injured around 100.
Victims’ average age was just 19. And the scale of the tragedy left an entire community devastated, many unable to rebuild their lives after suffering such a painful loss.
Selina was just 11 when her brothers George, 18, Willie, 22, and 16-year-old sister Marcella perished in the inferno which took firefighters days to put out.
Marcella told her parents she was babysitting so she could sneak off to the disco dancing competition at the ballroom venue with her friends.
Now 53, Selina has sat through months of harrowing evidence at the long awaited inquest along with other family members and her 86-year-old mother Bridget.
The evidence was heard in front of Dr Myra Cullinane and a 13-person jury began in April 2023. Photographs of each of the 48 victims hang in the Pillar
Room on the grounds of the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin where the inquests are being heard.
The reading of pen portraits, at the outset of the hearing, saw the bereaved families pay tribute to lost loved ones.
Selina described how she was her older sister Marcella’s “skin and blister” and they loved spending time together.
Selina told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “We started with the pen portraits and that was one of the most difficult parts, but it gave the jury an insight into who they were.
“Every single one of the families said they were very anxious doing it, but we all felt that it was almost like therapy after we did it, it was like a release.
“Everybody who got up to tell their story, it was very different, I still learned something new from them.
“The thing every single one of us had was there was turmoil and upset in the home after the disaster, that chaos was in every single home.
“It was the devastation with
Hearing the stories of what the survivors went through was shocking
the parents, the chaos of the kids that were left not knowing what to do.”
Scores of witnesses have given evidence in person, with many more statements read into the record from unavailable and dead witnesses.
Liam Hennessy, who was 31 at the time of the blaze, told of the stampede, the fireball and his efforts to save 18-year-old David Flood who had fallen asleep in an alcove.
Now in his 70s, Liam recounted how he tried to wake David up, returning to him a second time before being engulfed in black flames.
“Then I let him go,” said Liam. “There was nothing I could do.”
For Selina, one of the hardest things to sit through was the presentation of ‘maps’ showing the body count mostly concentrated around the exits of the club. She said: “The jury had to be
shown the map of the body count, that was very harrowing. You’re in court looking at these...
“I know Marcella went for exit 5, I wonder was that her body, that dot on the map. That was very hard.”
The Mcdermotts also heard testimony from pals of their siblings who gave a fresh insight into their last hours on that fateful night out.
Selina revealed: “It was very traumatic, but the legal team would let us know beforehand who was up and what they might mention.
“Willie’s pal was asked what was the last thing he said to him. [Willie said] ‘I’m just going to finish my pint but I need to look for George and Marcella’.
“He was traumatised. He couldn’t even get up on the stand, so his statement was read out. The amount of survivors’ guilt is just horrific, some
got so upset on the stand.”
Selina added: “Hearing the stories of what the survivors went through was very shocking, it was bringing everything back but we know even more now.”
This week the inquest heard from Yvonne Blackwell, whose friend Susan Morgan perished in the fire. She described how it was “raining flames” in the nightclub.
She said she came to lying outside the nightclub with a man lying next to her burnt, with his coat and shirt stuck to him.
She said: “None of us talked about it for years... We all went a wee bit mad afterwards,
went out drinking, and I ended up on tablets.”
Witness Benny Murphy called for counselling for survivors – something which has never been offered – as he recounted how he saw a girl on fire.
He said: “I don’t know if she’s still alive. Her clothes were burnt off. Her stomach was breathing up and down. It was a horrible, horrible thing.”
Several witnesses gave evidence that they saw exit doors chained and locked on the night of the fatal fire.
One former employee told the inquest hearing that “exits were always locked by chains and padlocks” to prevent people evading the cover charge on the door.
Former Stardust manager Eamon Butterly, who spent almost two weeks giving evidence, admitted it was “wrong” to keep exit doors but said it was not done out of “greed”.
He said all doors were open and unlocked at the time of the fire.
On Friday, the 78th day of proceedings, survivor Jimmy Fitzpatrick took the stand and told how a number of his friends, aged 17, were killed.
The inquests were expected to take six months but with expert witnesses yet to be called there is now a possibility they will run into the new year.
Selina said: “We should have been further ahead but the amount of witnesses that were called to give evidence about their 1981 statements has delayed things.
“We’re hoping and praying that it will finish in December... but we’ve waited this long, if it was completed before the next anniversary next February it would be nice.
“Then we’d have an answer for my mother and all the others.”
We all went a wee bit mad afterwards, out drinking.. I ended up on tablets