A sister of one of the Stardust victims has described the "crushing grief" of having to twice follow behind her brother's coffin after a 25-year wait to have him formally identified.
Michael French’s sister, Caroline Tiernan, told the Stardust inquest on Friday that her family had waited over two decades to be told "for sure" that Michael had died that night.
"For 25 years we waited. Twenty-five whole years later we went through it all again," she said.
Michael was one of five victims who was so badly burned that his identity could not be determined at the time. He was subsequently identified through DNA testing.
A total of 48 people died when a fire broke out in the Stardust Ballroom in Artane in the early hours of February 14th, 1981.
The fourth day of the inquest took place on Friday in the Pillar Room of the Rotunda Hospital, where families continued to give pen portraits detailing the lives of their loved ones and the effect their loss has had on those left behind.
Ms Tiernan, who spoke on behalf of her mother, brothers and sister, said Michael was the eldest of seven children and was "our leader, our protector and our friend".
"He was our rock. He loved life and his family so much, and we all loved him. He was a gentle giant who was loved and respected around our community by all he met," she said.
"He was taken in the prime of his life, which devastated our whole family and community. He is loved and missed by us every single day."
Michael was the big brother we all looked up to.
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Ms Tiernan recalled many memories of Michael, like him putting his siblings on his crossbar and cycling to St Anne’s Park or bringing them to the adventure playground, even though he was only a young kid himself.
Michael was the first to get a job in the family, training as an electrician, and was very hardworking and generous with his small wages, she said.
"Michael’s dream was to make life a bit easier for my Mam, both emotionally and financially. He would dance around the kitchen with her to cheer her up," Ms Tiernan added.
"We all looked up to him and went to him for advice and reassurance. He had good friends to whom he was very loyal, and was popular in our neighbourhood with young and old."
Michael was very interested in music and, to this day, most of the best records in the family collection were bought by him, she said.
"Michael was the big brother we all looked up to, who had a way of making everything a little bit better. He thought of everyone before himself. He encouraged where needed, he thought where possible, and he exuded love with every breath."
'Chaotic devastation'
Ms Tiernan said the memories from the night of the Stardust fire and the "chaotic devastation and helplessness" they lived through are still vivid in their memories.
"Not knowing, not truly believing the worst, and wondering if we would get a phone call to say that he had been found alive. My father was told to go to the morgue, go to the hospital, and he would arrive home just to be told to get back on a bus and go back to the morgue," she said.
"He was his son and he was not officially identified."
She said the situation was like a never ending nightmare.
"I remember my mother saying my beautiful boy is gone and my heart is broke. This led my mother to have a complete mental breakdown and saw our lives in turmoil once again when she spent a long period of time in hospital."
Ms Tiernan told the inquest of how the family endured a 25-year wait for Michael to be formally identified as one of those who died in the fire.
"You think that 25 years is enough time to heal - time being the great healer. Well let me tell you, we were not prepared for the crushing grief that hit following Michael’s coffin up to the altar for a second time," she said.
"Michael was our eldest brother. He was a role model for me, my brothers and sister and his friends. We cherish the memories we have of him growing up.
"For him to be taken away from all of us who loved him has left a void in our hearts which will never be filled. We love you Michael and miss you every single day," she added.
Waiting
The Stardust inquest has also heard how 26-year-old Michael Farrell, described by his sister as “the heart of our family”, could only be identified by his watch in the days following the tragedy.
"All of those young, beautiful smiling people suspended in time for decades, waiting for validation and answers, for justice and accountability. We want our loved ones to rest in peace with dignity. They all deserve that,” Michael's niece Angela Shepard, also told the Dublin District Coroner's Court inquest on Friday.
Michael had attended the Valentine’s disco in the Stardust with his girlfriend of five years, Thelma Frazer, who also died in the fire.
In a pen portrait of Michael written by his sister Monica D’Arcy before her recent death, she described how in the aftermath of the fire: “We searched for days and eventually went back to the mortuary where I was taken into a room and shown a watch which I knew to be Michael’s. My beautiful brother, my best friend, the heart of our family identified by a watch.”
The portrait was read to the inquest today on Friday by her daughter, Lynn D’Arcy.
Monica said on the night of the Stardust fire, their younger brother Pat was taking part in a dance competition and Michael and Thelma went along to support him. She said she was also supposed to go but couldn’t get a babysitter.
She told how, before he went to the disco, Michael had asked her to get a Valentine’s card for him to give to Thelma and said the man behind the shop counter had teased her because the card had the word girlfriend on it.
“When relaying this story to Michael, I said ‘that’s the last Valentines card I’m ever getting you’. Over the years thinking of those words has had a propound impact on me and made me extremely upset.”
She said their brother Pat stayed at the Stardust into the early hours of the morning searching for Michael and Thelma before finally making the journey home to tell their parents what had happened.
Monica said Michael loved “music, Bruce Lee and dancing”. He was also an avid pitch and putt player, winning lots of trophies which he displayed with great pride.
Michael adored his family and was very close to all of them, she said, especially their Mam.
He would do anything for her and was “a brilliant son”.
Michael started his first job at the age of fourteen as a helper on the trucks with Allied bottlers and before long he was driving his own truck, which he loved. He was always very dapper and would often spend his wages on a new jacket or shirt or a bottle of his favourite aftershave, Old Spice.
Michael was “quietly confident” and “loyal” and was a popular person who loved to socialise.
Monica told how her brother was seeing a “beautiful girl” called Thelma Frazer who was also killed in the Stardust fire. She said Michael would always tell his family how much he loved Thelma and that he was going to marry her.
'A bit of a rocker'
In a separate pen portrait, Ciaran David Flood described his uncle, David (Dave) Flood as “a bit of a rocker” who was “mad into the Rolling Stones”.
He said this was reflected in Dave’s love for playing the guitar, his sense of style and the “Jagger swagger” that he had about him.
In a pen portrait delivered on behalf of Dave’s late parents, Paddy and Bernie, his brother Pat and the wider extended family, Ciaran said his uncle was a typical 18-year-old who was good-humoured and sociable and loved dancing and going to the disco.
He enjoyed going out for a drink and a game of darts, which he often played with his brother, his nephew said.
Dave worked in O’Neills shoes on Talbot Street, he loved his job and never missed a day of work, often joking that if he came in to some money he’d open his own shoe shop.
Ciaran said at the time of the Stardust fire, Dave was in a relationship and had “all of life’s possibilities ahead of him”. He had a few drinks with his friends before heading out.
“My Nanny always said she remembered him saying goodbye as he left.” Ciaran said his parents were also supposed to go to the Stardust that night but were fortunate enough to have “a bit of a falling out” that evening with the result that they didn’t go to the dance.
When the phone call came with word that the Stardust was on fire, “panic quickly set in”, he said, and his grandfather and father went looking for Dave.
