A brother has told how every time he sees the Stardust memorial in Coolock of a young man and woman dancing, he pictures his sister and her boyfriend who both perished in the blaze.
Thelma Frazer was just 20 when she died alongside her boyfriend Michael Farrell (26).
Paying tribute to his sister at the inquest today, Thelma’s brother Maurice said the family “lost its soul that night”.
He said his parents were also victims of “that place in Artane” as they both died within ten years of the Stardust, both aged 56, leaving a young family behind.
Thelma’s sister Barbara Collins, who was just six at the time, said the fire had stolen not just her only sister but also her childhood.
“That was the night that stole my sister. That was the night that stole my childhood,” she said.
Barbara, Maurice and their brother Eric paid tribute to Thelma, providing pen portraits for their sister on the fifth day of the inquest into the fire that claimed the lives of 48 young people who had been attending a Valentine’s disco in the Ballroom.
Radiant smile
Thelma was the eldest of seven boys and two girls. Just 20 at the time of the fire, she had a “beautiful wide radiant smile, with stunning red short hair,” Barbara told the Coroner’s Court.
She said her sister was “gentle and kind” and “would do anything for anyone”.
Barbara told how her big sister was 14 years older than her and was “like a mother to me”, while their mother cared for their brother Robert, who had been born prematurely and suffered a lot of complications in his early years as a result.
Barbara said she loved her big sister, especially as they were the only girls in a house full of boys.
The family home was always bustling, with something going on, she said, and with eleven people sharing three bedrooms “it was tight, but we made it work”.
Barbara told how she shared the box room with Thelma, sleeping top to tail in a single bed.
“I remember her skin on her feet always scratched me because it was so rough, I would give out to her, but she would just end up tickling me,” she recalled.
“What I really remember is the fun in the house, I’m sure the neighbours hated the noise. It wasn’t bad noise; it was always laughter and singing,” said Barbara.
A few months before Thelma was killed, she won some money and went straight out and bought some presents for the younger children.
Barbara said both she and her brother Eric still have those presents today, which they cherish.
“Mine was a little Fisher Price record player,’ she said, adding Thelma was always thinking of other people before herself.
Friday nights were Thelma’s nights for going out and Barbara told how she would help her sister get ready before her boyfriend Michael would pick her up. “He was such a lovely guy, he was just like one of my brothers,” she said.
She described Friday, February 13th, 1981 as “the night that changed our lives forever”.
Barbara told how she watched “with admiration” while Thelma got her make-up and her hair ready and picked out her clothes.
“Me dreaming of the day I could do the same and go dancing with her. She then hugged me, gave me a kiss and tucked me into bed before heading off with Michael for the St Valentines night disco,” Barbara said.
“That was the last time I saw my big sister.”
The next morning, she remembers waking up to her dad shaking her and shouting “Where is Thelma, where is Thelma”.
“That was the night that stole my sister. That was the night that stole my happy family. That was the night that stole my childhood, she said. “A mother afraid to hug, a mother afraid to love, in fear of losing another child.”
Barbara told how growing up, neighbours and family members would call her Thelma by mistake and said this still happens to this day.
She said she knows Thelma is watching over her but would give anything for “her not to have gone that night, to have stayed at home with me, scratchy feet and all”.
Lost its soul
Thelma’s brother Maurice, meanwhile, said the family “lost its soul that night”.
He told the inquest Thelma was an excellent student who went on to study Business and Communications at Ballsbridge Business College, where she excelled.
He said she loved her job and was sure she would have made a career out of Labour relations.
She had lots of friends, Maurice said, and loved sports, whether it was running, playing football or going to away trips to see Shelbourne FC play.
He revealed how all three older siblings were working and earning a decent wage and said their home was a “joyous place to be” as the family were finally able to clear the mortgage.
Two doting readheads
He described Thelma’s boyfriend Michael, who also died in the fire, as “the love of her life” and said all the family had “such good times with these two doting redheads”.
He said that on the night of the fire, the “unimaginable” happened and the family were woken by their Dad shouting: “there is a fire at the Stardust”.
Maurice said his father cycled around all the major Dublin hospitals in the hope that his daughter would be found. He was photographed outside the Mater hospital “with a two thousand yard stare” while the photographer was focusing on the Taoiseach Charlie Haughey and a Garda in deep conversation.
He said he often wonders what was going through his father’s mind as that “snapshot in time” was taken.
Maurice said the family “searched frantically” for hours but as their “hopes slowly dwindled” they came to the realisation that they might never see Thelma again.
“Our home went from a happy home full of life to just a house”.
Their mother was heavily sedated, he said, while they became concerned when their father went missing for a few hours only to be brought home by a passing garda who had “found Dad sitting on a bench at Sandymount strand crying his eyes out”.
Maurice said two days later they got the call to go to Store Street to identify Thelma and said as they went in “the sobbing from families was interrupted by cries of anguish and anger”.
“We were given a brown envelope with a few pieces of melted jewellery and the remains of a digital watch which my older brother Arthur identified as Thelma’s,” Maurice said.
“Our family lost its soul that night, as we were consumed by heart-wrenching sobs and a sense of numbness that lingered in our minds forever. Impossible to erase even today.”
He said both their Mam and Dad were truly heartbroken by what happened and both passed away within ten years of the Stardust, both at the young of age of 56, leaving a young family behind.
“Mam and Dad were also victims of that place in Artane,” he said.
“When I see the Stardust memorial in Coolock, with the young man and the young woman dancing, I picture them as being Thelma and Michael,” he added.
He said his father, Arthur Senior, had many questions and Maurice said he hopes that his late father’s concerns, through this inquest, can be laid to rest with him, and that “we can finally have truth and justice for our own and all of the families”.
Thelma’s brother Eric, who was just five when his sister died, paid tribute to her in a poem, which included the lines:
“Until we are linked together in heaven, my heart will remain broken.
We can never move on, as we’ve never had answers.
We can never shed light on what happened to all the midnight Stardust dancers.”
