Stardust inquest: Eamon Butterly denies throwing head doorman 'under a bus'

Mr Butterly claimed head doorman Thomas Kennan had chosen for doors at the nightclub to be locked 'on his own initiative'

Former manager of the Stardust nightclub Eamon Butterly at the Stardust inquest on Friday. Picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins 

Harrowing accounts of people trying to escape the Stardust in north Dublin in the early hours of 14 February 1981 as fire was spreading were described as “devastating” by the club’s manager Eamon Butterly on Friday, but he maintained his stance that all the exit doors were open on the evening.

Dozens of witnesses described men having to kick doors to get them open, people trying the bars on the exits which would not work, a crush at the exits, and panic, with one person recalling hearing someone shout “we’re all going to die”.