Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

New landmark documentary series Stardust on RT One and RT Player

13/05/2024

New compelling eye-witness testimony of Stardust fire in RT documentary

Series filmed over three years includes interview with Charlie Bird filmed in 2021

New eye-witness testimony from the night of the Stardust fire from bar staff, emergency responders and survivors comprehensively recount the events of the night of the disaster in the first episode of a new landmark documentary series on RT One and RT Player from Sunday at 9.30pm.

Stardust, a three-part documentary series, tells the full and unvarnished story of the Stardust nightclub fire and the 43-year search for justice undertaken by the families of those killed in the fire. The series will be broadcast across three consecutive nights, Sunday May 12th at 9.30pm and continues tomorrow night and Tuesday at 9.35pm on RT One and RT Player.

Three years in the making by RT , this definitive account of the Stardust nightclub tragedy chronicles the night of the fire and the fall-out from it, the initial investigation into the fire, the relatives' fight for justice up to the point of a second inquest and concludes with the historic decision of unlawful killing' delivered into the Coroner's Court on April 18th.

Tonight's episode features a sit-down interview with the late Charlie Bird about the nightclub fire that he attended as an RT News journalist in 1981. After campaigning for decades on behalf of the Stardust families, Charlie spoke to RT 's documentary crew in 2021 to recall the night.

Charlie Bird said: I remember getting the phone call that night - my boss he told me to get my backside out to Artane - there had been a fire in a disco called the Stardust, I hadn't a clue where it was. I remember jumping in my car and going over Butt Bridge and I just followed the ambulances from there out to the Stardust So many people there - ambulances, fire brigades, reporters, onlookers from all over the place - it was absolutely chaotic.

He continued: It was a dream - the whole thing was a dream or a nightmare - that was unfolding as dawn came you began to see the shell of the Stardust - that charred and the smell the smoke was still rising from it.

In a way we didn't know then what the scale of the tragedy was, how many people had died and the numbers who were injured. Charlie Haughey arrives and the most bizarre thing of all - we walked through the Stardust! We were allowed in talk about forensics, it's the most bizarre thing! We were actually allowed to trudge through it!

In a rare interview, survivor of the Stardust fire Valerie Deasy describes first seeing the blaze in the nightclub: I looked around for my sister to see where she was and I went up to her and said c'mon we better go' and she said sure it's only a little fire.' We could see it It was in a corner on a seatthat's what it looked like to me anyway and we walked over and we were standing quite close to the exits - but they were chained.

Valerie talks about how the fire grew quickly and in the chaos, she ended up on the floor. She says: Everyone was standing on me, trampling on me but then I thought I had died - because everything went deathly silent - there wasn't a sound and it was pitch black.

She adds: You could see the light coming from a door being opened and slowly but surely there was people just pulling people out and eventually somebody pulled me out. There was guy who worked in the community centre, the youth leaders, and I went over to him and said Mick will you bring me home'. I actually thought I was going to sneak back into the house and my mother wouldn't realise that I'd been out - so he said to me Who are you?' because he didn't recognise me. And I said it's Valerie' and he said to me - what's that?' And all the skin off my face was here it was in my hand, and I just held it in my hand while we got in the car and he drove me into Jervis Street.

Phyllis Campbell was 16years old on the night of fire and was working as bar staff in another part of the Stardust venue. In Sunday night's documentary, Phyllis recounts for the first time in a television interview the first signs of fire and the panic in the venue as they discovered the doors wouldn't open.

Phyllis Campbell tells the Stardust documentary: We were lounge girls and we would serve the drink to the tables, clear the glasses, we would wear a white blouse, black skirt, we were supposed to - that was our uniform.

Everybody was excited to be going to the Stardust on Valentine's night with a disco competition because most of the people that were in the disco competition - we knew

We were in the Lantern Rooms tidying around, that function was coming to an end - one of the lounge staff came in to say there was a fire in the Stardust and we went into see.

She continues: The flames was going across the ceiling then there was a gush of fire and it was like the material from the ceiling was falling on fire

The lights went out People screaming, glasses smashing, the roars of the fire - so we held on to each other and we went through the bar - I slipped and fell.

Phyllis says: When we got outside it was as bad outside - the screams coming from inside People that did go to exit doors had no chance - there was no way that they would have got out those doors because they were chained and because the toilet windows had bars on - there was no way out there. Jesus help us get us out' and then silence. Seeing people that you had spoke to a couple of minutes beforehand coming out black, covered in smoke and there was others trying to get back in cos their families were in there.

I remember my aunt saying is it really really bad - and she saying half of Coolock is gone.

RT 's Stardust documentary project is a comprehensive telling of the s
LINK: https://about.rte.ie/2024/05/13/new-landmark-documentary-series-stardu...
See more stories from rte

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

24/04/2026

Call for NFVF funding applications to attend Film Festivals and Markets taking place from 01 30 June 2026

The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the ca...

24/04/2026

Andrea Riseborough & Ashley Walters To Star In ITV Thriller First Woman' About Race To Find Missing Astronaut

ITV's Director of Drama Polly Hill has commissioned six part propulsive, lun...

24/04/2026

NASA Receives L3Harris' Modified Next-Generation Research Aircraft

The NASA 777 aircraft departs the L3Harris facility in Waco, Texas....

24/04/2026

L3Harris Closes $1B Investment from Department of War in Missile Solutions Business

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2026 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) has closed a $1 b...

24/04/2026

Autonomous Logistics is the Marine Corps' Next Combat Advantage

In partnership with Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Inc., L3Harris Technologies is advancing autonomous aviation for the U.S. Marine Corps' Aerial Logistics Co...

24/04/2026

Open, Connected, Decisive: the L3Harris hC2 Software Suite

L3Harris' hC2 software, powered by Systematic SitaWare, strengthens battlefield decision-making by using open architectures to connect platforms, sensors an...

24/04/2026

AERIS X Airborne Early Warning & Control: The Right Choice for Allied Homeland Defense

Artist rendering of L3Harris' AERIS X next-generation airborne early warning...

24/04/2026

AgileTV showcases its TV solutions at NAB Show and wins Best of Show Award

AgileTV presents in Las Vegas its technological proposition to power safer, more scalable and efficient TV ecosystems for telecom operators, ISPs and entertainm...

24/04/2026

Canada's Cgep de Jonquire chooses Brio

Canada's C gep de Jonqui re and Calrec take five with a substantial TV studio upgrade Underscoring its global reputation as one of Canada's most renowne...

24/04/2026

NAB 2026: 5 Reasons to Join Calrec at NAB

Redefining Broadcast Workflows at NAB 2026 with our Most Powerful Hardware, Virtual and Hybrid Audio Lineup Yet We're looking forward to meeting up with you...

24/04/2026

Bitfocus Buttons wins NAB Show Product of the Year Award

Recognition for incredible advances in broadcast and enterprise control...

24/04/2026

Dalet Takes Home The Best in Show Award for Dalia at 2026 NAB

Dalet Takes Home The Best in Show Award for Dalia at 2026 NAB Brie Clayton April 23, 2026 0 Comments Media-aware agentic AI wins big for real-world ef...

24/04/2026

Calrec and Grass Valley Unlock Exceptional Choice and Flexibility for Broadcasters with ImPulseV and AMPP Integration

Calrec and Grass Valley Unlock Exceptional Choice and Flexibility for Broadcaste...

24/04/2026

Bitfocus Buttons wins NAB Show Product of the Year Award

Bitfocus Buttons wins NAB Show Product of the Year Award Brie Clayton April 24, 2026 0 Comments Recognition for incredible advances in broadcast and e...

24/04/2026

NAB Show Reports More Than 58,000 Registered Attendees for 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

24/04/2026

Dalet Takes Home The Best in Show Award for Dalia at 2026...

Media-aware agentic AI wins big for real-world efficiencies and time to value Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, to...

24/04/2026

Mediagenix Sweeps 2026 NAB Awards With Wins for Product o...

Mediagenix wins for its Scheduling Optimization capabilities that help broadcasters and FAST operators move beyond traditional scheduling automation toward cont...

24/04/2026

Setplex Secures Top Honors with NAB Show Project of the Y...

Setplex today announced that it has taken home the NAB Show Project of the Year Award in the Distribution category for its innovative deployment with UVOtv. Dur...

24/04/2026

farmerswife and Cirkus are Exhibiting MPTS 2026

Media and post-production teams are invited to experience next-level resource planning, project management, and connected media workflows at Stand K59 in The Gr...

24/04/2026

Dolby Elevates In-Car Entertainment to New Heights at Auto China 2026

April 24 2026, 00:00 (PDT) Dolby Elevates In-Car Entertainment to New Heights at Auto China 2026 More Automakers, More Models: Dolby-enabled Vehicles Drive...

24/04/2026

Dolby Cinema Arrives in Tamil Nadu: Dolby Laboratories and LA Cinema Launch the State's First Dolby Cinema in Trichy

April 24 2026, 06:48 (PDT) Dolby Cinema Arrives in Tamil Nadu: Dolby Laboratori...

23/04/2026

NAB Honors Rob Lowe and John Tesh With Hall of Fame Induction

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/04/2026

Roku, Samsung Dominate CTV Platform Market in U.S.

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/04/2026

G&D and VuWall Strengthen International Sales Team

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/04/2026

The 2026 NAB Show Reports More than 58,000 Attendees

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/04/2026

SmallHD Monitor Overlay License for Hi-5 and Hi-5 SX deli...

Partnership between ARRI and SmallHD brings new Hi-5 license Configurable monitor overlays adapt to individual working styles Supported by SmallHD monitors ru...

23/04/2026

Jeff Cronenweth ASC Sheds Light on Tron Ares with Astera

Lighting Master Cronenweth ASC brings a unique look to each grid world with the help of Astera Jeff Cronenweth on the set of Disney's TRON: ARES. Photo by...

23/04/2026

ZEISS Supreme Primes Shine in Star-Driven Short Dr Sam

DP Chloe Smolkin ( The Late Show, Kidz Bop ) joins director Danielle Beckmann and writer/actor Raji Ahsan behind the camera for the heartfelt short comedy Dr...

23/04/2026

Apply now to join the 2026 Producer Delegation to TIFF: The Market

Apply now to join the 2026 Producer Delegation to TIFF: The Market 23 April 2026 Screen Australia, in partnership with Ontario Creates, has opened application...

23/04/2026

Strange Things Are Happening at McDonald's: The 'Tales From 85' Happy Meal Arrives Soon in Restaurants Worldwide

Back to All News Strange Things Are Happening at McDonald's: The Tales From...

23/04/2026

How Netflix Adaptations Are Heating Up the Top 10 and Bestseller Lists

Back to All News How Netflix Adaptations Are Heating Up the Top 10 and Bestseller Lists Entertainment 23 April 2026 Global Link copied to clipboard Downlo...

23/04/2026

FOX Advertising Launches FOX AdStudio, Unifying Audience Intelligence Across Its Premium Portfolio

FOX Advertising Launches FOX AdStudio, Unifying Audience Intelligence Across Its...

23/04/2026

Dalet Takes Home The Best in Show Award for Dalia at 2026 NAB

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced that Dalia, its agentic AI solution for media & entertainment, ha...

23/04/2026

New RT series Masters: Keepers of Tradition delves into the remarkable world of rare skills and crafts

Six crafts. Six lives. Six reasons to believe that making things by hand still...

23/04/2026

AMATEUR DRAMA TAKES CENTRE STAGE AS THE 2026 RT ALL IRELAND DRAMA FESTIVAL LAUNCHES IN THE ABBEY THEATRE

The festival programme promises a feast of drama, a bumper packed fringe festiva...

23/04/2026

OpenAI's New GPT-5.5 Powers Codex on NVIDIA Infrastructure - and NVIDIA Is Already Putting It to Work

AI agents have revolutionized developer workflows, and their next frontier is kn...

23/04/2026

Tag, You're It: GeForce NOW Levels Up Game Discovery With Xbox Game Pass and Ubisoft+ Labels

GeForce NOW is doubling down on what matters most: gamers. This week's upgra...

22/04/2026

Live From NAB 2026: Solid State Logics Berny Carpenter on Expanding System T With Virtual DSP, Cloud Workflows

Solid State Logic is advancing its System T platform with a stronger focus on IP...

22/04/2026

Live From NAB 2026: Dolbys Giles Baker on the Growth of Dolby OptiView, Immersive Vision and Audio for Live Sports

From immersive audio to live streaming, Dolby Laboratories is focused on the fut...

22/04/2026

Live From NAB 2026: Blackmagic Design's Bob Caniglia on Implementing Cinematic Looks in Live Broadcasts

Shallow depth-of-field cameras have taken the industry by storm. Its debut a han...

22/04/2026

NAB 2026: Eastern Kentucky University deploys campus-wide ST 2110 network with Riedel and Bridge Digital

Riedel Communications (Booth C4908) announced that Eastern Kentucky University (...

22/04/2026

SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2026, Day 4: Live Reports From the Show Floor in Vegas

The NAB Show is in full swing, and the SVG and SVG Europe editorial teams are chasing down the hottest stories from all over the Las Vegas Convention Center. He...

22/04/2026

NAB 2026: Blackmagic Design Announces URSA Cine 12K LF 100G

Blackmagic Design has announced the URSA Cine 12K LF 100G, a new model in the URSA Cine family adding 100G Ethernet for SMPTE 2110 live production output up to ...