Electrician noticed 'flickering' neon sign that 'could cause a fire' on night of Stardust blaze

Electrician said he had spent a number of years working for a firm dealing exclusively with high-voltage neon signs  

Gardaí outside the fire-blackened Stardust night club in Artane, Dublin, the morning after the fire in 1981 that claimed 48 lives. File picture: Tony Harris/PA

An electrician who attended the Stardust complex on the night of the fatal fire noticed a neon roof sign “dimming” and “flickering” and believed it was due to an electrical fault which “could cause a fire”, an inquest has heard.

Stephen Byrne, who worked as an electrician at Cadbury's in Coolock at the time, said he attended the Silver Swan public house on the night of February 13, 1981 and noticed a neon strip at roof level which was “dimming” and appeared to have a short in it.