Stardust manager Eamon Butterly says doors were not locked on night of fire

Mr Butterly told inquest he instructed the head doorman to stop locking doors in the nightclub, as had previously been done to stop people getting in without paying

Former manager of the Stardust nightclub Eamon Butterly leaving the Stardust inquest on Thursday afternoon. Picture: Stephen Collins /Collins

The man who managed the Stardust nightclub where a devastating fire resulted in the deaths of 48 young people has claimed he never saw any of the emergency exit doors locked in the venue and that, if he had, “there would be trouble”.

Eamon Butterly took to the stand at the fresh Stardust inquests on Thursday before Dublin city coroner Dr Myra Cullinane, with the public gallery packed with families of victims waiting to hear his testimony.