Sandra Lawless (18), from Coolock, was a selfless and caring young woman, known for being very neat and organised. As a dedicated Girl Guide leader, she embraced outdoor pursuits such as hiking and camping.
Introduction
I am here today to tell you all that Sandra Lawless wasn't only a victim of the Stardust fire, Sandra was a beautiful, loving and caring daughter to parents Bridget and Paul and sibling to Annette, Valerie, Paul, Brian, Brendan and Fidelma.
Sandra was the 3rd eldest in our family, born on 29th July 1962. Sadly, our mother Bridget, sister Annette and brother Paul have since passed away but their memories of Sandra are similar to ours and they loved and missed her every day of their lives too.
Background
Sandra grew up to be a happy, kind, funny, selfless outgoing, generous sister and daughter who loved life. She loved being out and about, was a group leader in the Girl Guides and was a member of a swimming club. She didn't really drink and smoke, loved outdoor activities and the outdoor life.
I want to try to give an accurate picture of what Sandra Lawless was really like and I think the best way is to share some of our memories. We have loads but we’ll just share some.
All of us remember Sandra as the Girl Guide leader, the swimmer who won awards for life saving. The young woman who loved the outdoors, hiking and camping but was also very meticulous and neat. Even her handwriting was beautiful, and she kept the most neat and tidy records of her troop in the guides and won the neatest guide award.
At the time of the Stardust Sandra worked in Gilt Edge making ties with her older sister Valerie and her Aunt Lily. Brendan in particular has vivid memories of hearing Sandra call Valerie every morning to get out of bed stating that the mini-bus is here to pick them up. What we didn’t realise was at that time was that Sandra had got up early, made lunch for both of them, ironed their clothes, while still calling Valerie for work. This was the type of self-less person she really was. She was so giving of her time. Valerie, who was only a little bit older than Sandra, can recall how Sandra was chief bridemaid at her wedding.
But leading up to that, Valerie, who was so laid back and non fussed, it was Sandra who actually did most of the organising for the wedding, including picking out flow-ers and dresses.
It was only seven months after Valerie's wedding when the Stardust tragedy oc-curred, and Sandra never got to meet any of Valerie's children, whom she would have loved and would have been loved by them.
Brian not only remembers how Sandra was a kind, funny, selfless, outgoing, loving person but that she would always put the needs of others before her own. In fact, on that dreadful night as she was getting ready to attend the Stardust, she took time out from this to iron his Scouts uniform because she was laughing at his attempt to do it himself. Sandra actually gave Brian 65 pence to buy a Valentine’s Card for his imaginary girlfriend. He still treasures those coins to this day, as he never got to use them.
Sometimes to Brian, Sandra was like the family bodyguard unbeknownst to our Mam and Dad of course, and always stood up for us when we got into silly disagreements with the neighbours over footballs or shouting or just being a cheeky little brats, the usual silly neighbour going ons. He remembers one particular incident when Mrs X from up the road chased him with a sweeping brush for some silly reason like he slammed her garden gate or something like that and Sandra seen her and quickly intervened and took the brush from her and sent her running back up the road without her sweeping brush, and without my Mam or Dad ever finding out. That was Sandra, his big sister, not wanting him to get into trouble.
What Brendan remembers most about Sandra is her kind heart. Even at a young age it was clear to him that Sandra was an exceptional young woman. She always seemed happy, even if she was annoyed over something.
She never lost her temper, and he honestly does not recall Sandra ever using a swear word. Brendan remembers the last gift she ever bought him. It was Christmas 1980 and she gave him the Clash album, London Calling. He still finds it hard to believe that an 18-year-old teenager would buy her 12 year old brother such a classic pre-sent.
He sometimes doubted this and was wary that it may have been a false memory. But on going through some of Sandra's mementos we found her Christmas list in her notebook. And not only was the album listed for Brendan, but there was also thoughtful presents for everyone. She even had an album listed for Brian that con-tained a swear word, but she couldn't even write that in her own private notebook.
Sandra was like a second mother to me, as I was the baby of the family, whom she doted on and carried around everywhere on her hip from the time I was a toddler. Now it wasn't only me, the baby of the family, that Sandra helped looked after. She also helped look after her other younger brothers and older sisters.
But Sandra and I had a very, very special bond.
I find it difficult to put into words how much Sandra meant to me. Myself and Sandra even shared a bed up until her tragic death. I do remember how much Sandra loved her job. And how she was so meticulous about her appearance, her timekeeping, winning the title of the neatest girl guide.
I also recall how Sandra was so generous and put everyone before herself. The week before her untimely death was my 8th birthday, and she treated me to a day's shop-ping in Cleary's department store. This was such a special day. Sandra bought me a beautiful baby doll sleeping carriage with a lace canopy and lace coverings. I always remember feeling so special playing with it with my friends. She also made sure for my communion that I had the best of everything as I was the last in the family to do this.
My Dad, Paul, will always remember Sandra as the kind, thoughtful, happy go lucky and full of life daughter that she had grown up to be. He shares fond, precious, memories of the daughter who loved hiking and camping and remembers many trips to the Dublin mountains with Sandra by his side.
Stardust Fire
Sandra didn't go out very often, but when she did, you could set your watch on her arrival home. On that fateful night, when her usual time passed by, my mam became quite concerned. My dad explained it could be for a number of reasons, hard to get taxis, still talking to friends etc but my mam had an awful gut feeling.
Shortly afterwards, at approximately 2.30am, maybe later, a friend of my parents knocked at our door, (we had no house phone at the time) and he explained that there was a fire in the stardust and he inquired was Sandra at home. My dad left with him immediately to go down to the stardust to look for Sandra, nobody knew at this stage how tragic and devastating events would turn out.
We all have our own personal memories of that morning but in all, our parents weren't at home for the next few days, our mam stayed at a friend's house who had a house phone awaiting news anxiously, while our Dad searched every hospital and nursing home that had opened its doors to care and tend to the injured and burnt patrons.
Our Dad searched and searched, seeing fresh burns, hearing the screams and cries of those injured and burnt, while looking and hoping to find his own daughter amongst the crowds of people. An awful sight for anybody to witness, but for a father looking for his teenage daughter, it was traumatic and devastating.
He searched for hours, days, and it was on the Monday, upon advice, he went to check the city morgue. It was here, our dad, our sister Valerie and a friend of
Sandra's were faced with rows of tables with clear plastic bags which contained the victims’ personal belongings. Tragically and sadly, Sandra's jewellery was discovered in one of the bags, which was then identified by them and matched with Sandra's dental records. That day all our lives changed forever.
Our family was thrown into turmoil, the younger children of the family got looked after by relations, neighbours and friends, while our Ma and Da set out trying to organise a funeral for their 18 year old daughter, something no parent should ever have to experience or endure.
Sandra was buried in St Fintan’s graveyard in Sutton, a place where we still go to place flowers and remember her. However, it's not only here we remember her, everyday we remember and talk about her.
The stardust fire and particularly Sandra's tragic death affected us all in different ways but one common word that we all use is "HEARTBROKEN".
My Mam and Dad didn't know what way to turn in the days and weeks after the funeral. They were devastated, as we all were, and still are. Nobody knew how to react or cope. My dad's friends brought him to the pub, my man's friends brought her to bingo...all the while thinking they were helping them. There was no professional help, no counselling or guidance for families. Nobody knew if they were saying or doing the right things. I know Valerie gave up her job as she couldn’t bear to see Sandra’s empty work station nor could she bare to see anyone else fill it.
However, our parents knew they had 6 grieving children who needed them and together since then we have helped and supported each other. We are a strong, close knit, united family. We have been through a hell of a lot, but we are still here in unity. As previously stated, we have had a number of losses in our family over the years.
Since then
We don't celebrate St Valentine's Day in the usual commercial way. To us it is and will always be a sad time, something that shouldn't have happened. Sandra's life should not have been taken away so young, she had her whole adult life to live. Thankfully we are still a very close family, and we gather quite a lot in our family home but especially after the annual stardust mass and we reminisce. There are photos in all our homes of Sandra. All our children know about Sandra, and they have grown up with her being a part of them. We just wish they had gotten to meet her.
It breaks my dad’s heart when he recalls that he and mam missed out on so much of Sandra's adult life, the fact that if chosen by Sandra the opportunity to walk her
down the aisle, to see if she ever had children of her own, or if she would have travelled the world. Sandra could have achieved anything she put her mind to.
Conclusion
We hope these inquests will give us the answers we have waited over 42 years to receive. Our loved ones died unnecessarily, and we are hoping that this inquest will finally get to the truth of what happened that night. It saddens and angers us that we have had to wait so long for same. So long that Sandra’s Mam, brother & sister didn’t survive to see this day. We know they would have loved to see this day come after all the years of fighting for justice for our loved ones. No matter what the outcome, Sandra will always have a special place in our hearts, not just her immediate family but in her nieces and nephews, and even her great-nieces and great-nephews, who never even got to meet her and for future generations to come.
