The former manager of the Stardust club has told the Dublin District Coroner's Court that it was "wrong" to lock fire exits while patrons were inside.
Eamon Butterly was continuing his evidence at the inquests into the deaths of the 48 young people who died in the 1981 fire, where he also agreed the locking of fire exits was in breach of regulations and a serious fire hazard.
This was Mr Butterly’s seventh day in the witness box where he faced further questions from legal teams representing families of the victims.
Brenda Campbell, KC, focussed on the policies around the emergency exits in the lead-up to the fire.
She told the court from 1979 to 1981 there were nine or ten occasions that Mr Butterly and the club had been told to keep the exits in good working order.
She put it to him: "You were told repeatedly that the exits were to be unobstructed."
"Yes", replied Mr Butterly
Ms Campbell then said: "You were told repeatedly that locks and chains were not to be on the doors while people were inside."
"Yes," replied Mr Butterly.
He also agreed that he knew it was dangerous, a serious fire hazard and a breach of Dublin Corporation requirements. "But you did it anyway," said Ms Campbell.
Later, Mr Butterly said on the practice of keeping fire exits locked up until around midnight "they shouldn’t have been locked up until that time".
Brenda Campbell asked why he did it, was it greed or arrogance she asked. Mr Butterly replied it was neither before saying "it was wrong".
He also said the doors were not locked at the time of the fire.
Mr Butterly later told the court that when he initially saw the flames, he was shouting to people to "get out".
He agreed he also said the words to effect of "the b**tards have set us on fire".
It was put to him that within seconds of seeing the flames, he made his good escape from "a building he knew was dangerous". He had said it was not a matter of seconds.
Mr Butterly also told the court that after the fire the only thing he said to staff was to tell the truth.
Fire insurer 'declined to quote'
Earlier, Mr Butterly was asked by Seán Guerin SC, representing families of the victims, if he was aware there were electrical issues on the premises on the night of fire and of an incident of "power going out" which affected the lighting. Mr Butterly said he was not.
The court also heard testimony of witnesses who said they saw sparks in the club in the weeks before the fire.
Mr Butterly was asked, having heard those "electrical issues", did he still think the quality of the electrical work was excellent. "Yes," he replied.
Under questioning, he also told the court that there was no "system" in place for reporting electrical faults at the club. "There was no logging book," he said.
He was also asked if there was ever a problem getting fire insurance for the Stardust.
"We never had a problem getting insurance for anything," Mr Butterly said.
Mr Guerin then told the court about a Richard Williams who worked for Hibernian Insurance at the time and was asked to quote for fire insurance around 1979 and that he declined to quote.
Mr Butterly said he was not aware of that.
Mr Guerin went on to tell the court that Mr Williams in 1981 before the fire, went out to the premises and turned down the request to quote for insurance because he considered the "fire risk pretty horrendous" and pointed to the use of polyurethane foam insulation which was considered "highly combustible".
"It’s the first I’ve heard of it," replied Mr Butterly.
Later, Brenda Campbell KC, asked him if he thought it was "disgraceful" if management of a venue developed a situation where profit took priority over patron safety.
Mr Butterly agreed and was then asked if he considered that he had ever run a business in that way.
"No," he replied.
Mr Butterly also agreed that he "stood over" the malicious damage claim made by the company in the wake of the fire.
Under questioning from Mr Guerin, he also agreed that such a claim could only succeed if the damage was caused maliciously.
He was asked what the value of the claim was, to which he replied he did not know, adding that he was not in court at the time and that his father and the solicitor was.
Mr Butterly also agreed with counsel that the company had an "important financial interest in proving the damage was caused maliciously".
He also pointed to the 1981 Keane Tribunal which found the cause of the fire was probable arson.
That finding though was struck from the record in 2009.
