Dublin firefighter Paul Hand Snr who fought the fire at the Stardust has died, Dublin Fire Brigade announced.
In 1981, Paul was one of the respondents at the fire at the Stardust nightclub in Artane on the night of February 14. He saved many lives and was seen as a hero by the Stardust Victims Committee. After he retired, he became an ambassador for Dublin Fire Brigade and "even in retirement devoted a huge amount of time for the betterment of the brigade", Dublin Fire Brigade tweeted.
Chairperson of the Stardust Victims Committee Antoinette Keegan told Dublin Live: “I’m deeply saddened and very emotional to hear the news... He was a hero in my eyes from then till now, and always will be. I became very, very close to Paul over the years and I’m saddened that he’s passed away.
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"I'm saddened for losing a great friend, I’m also saddened for his family, for losing a great husband and a brilliant father. He’s a hero in everyone's eyes, he saved so many peoples lives that day.”
The committee went down to see him a few weeks ago, Antoinette said, and wrote him a letter, congratulating him on all he achieved and all he had done over the years in the fire service. “He was so proud to have that letter, he was actually showing it to everybody… The emotions he had for us were sincere emotions… We will never ever forget Paul.”
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