Liam's horrific night searching for sister after Stardust blaze

Actor tells of hospital carnag after nightclub tragedy in 198

- SANDRA MALLON

GAME of Thrones star Liam Cunningham has told of his frantic search for his sister on the night of the Stardust fire. 

Speaking to Katie Hannon for RTE’s new Upfront podcast, the Dubliner recalled the blaze on February 14, 1981, which killed 48 young people.

His younger sister Maria was at the Dublin nightclub that night.

Liam, 61, said: “I remember exactly where I was. I was up having a lemonade. I was a motorbiker at the time, and, for some reason, I drove past the Stardust just before the fire happened.”

Later when he was in bed, he heard what he would later learn was the sound of propane gas tanks exploding.

He added: “[I remember] hearing these noises and thinking, ‘What the hell is that? And then being woken up.

“One of the neighbours had knocked at our door to say there had been a fire in the Stardust.”

So his father and a few neighbours whose children were also at the venue went off to try to find them. Liam said:

“The radio was on, there was live reports and they were saying, ‘There’s three dead’. 20 minutes later, ‘Five dead’.