Johnny patted my bump and said I'll be an uncle soon...

Stardust blaze families tell inquest of grief

- RYAN DUNNE

EMOTIONAL accounts of the effects felt by the families who lost loved ones in the Stardust nightclub blaze were heard by the Coroner's Court yesterday.

They included the recollection of a 12-year-old girl having to be sedated after seeing her sister's coffin and a mother's sense of fear "like a physical sickness" when her children now go out.

Pen portraits detailing the lives of the 48 people who died when a fire broke out in the Stardust Ballroom in Artane in the early hours of February 14, 1981, continued yesterday on the third day of the inquest.

Susan Behan gave an emotional account of her brother Johnny Colgan, who was 21 when his life was claimed by the blaze.

She said Johnny was their father's right hand, their mother's pride and joy, and her sister Patricia's hero, for whom he did everything.

Ms Behan added: "Johnny was so handsome and a truly special person.

Johnny's essence was pure, he was a natural charmer.