Thelma Frazer (20), Ringsend – ‘A smile so broad and a laugh filled with spring’

The inquests into the deaths of the 48 young people who died in the Stardust fire in Artane, Dublin, in 1981 feature pen portraits of each of the deceased read by bereaved family members. Find all of the portraits and more coverage here

Barbara: Thelma was 14 years older than me ... I loved my big sister, especially being in a house full of boys. Three bedrooms, between 11 of us. It was tight but we made it work.

I shared the box bedroom with Thelma. We shared a single bed, in which we slept tops to tails.

On Friday the 13th February, 1981, I was just six years old ... Thelma came into the bedroom as I watched with admiration while she got her make-up and hair ready and picked out her clothes. She then hugged me, gave me a kiss and tucked me into bed before heading off with Michael for the St Valentine’s night disco.

All 48 Stardust deaths the result of unlawful killing

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Stardust review: Excellent documentary that quite rightly conveys the full horror of that night

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Jury in Stardust inquest

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The next morning ... my dad woke me up shouting, “Where’s Thelma? Where is Thelma?” He had me by the shoulders, shaking me ... I couldn’t understand it, what had happened. That was the night that stole my sister ... that stole my happy family, that stole my childhood.

Primary school for me was, “Oh your sister was killed in the fire. What does that feel like?” I’d shrug my shoulders and walk away. For us younger siblings it was all hushed conversations we were not party to.

She should have been there when I made my First Holy Communion one year later ... In my teens for advice, my big sister should have been there ... In my preparations for my wedding, my sister should have been there. When I had my daughter, my sister should have been there.

Maurice: Thelma and I were very close, just nine months between us – Irish twins you might say. Thelma went to St Brigid’s primary school on Haddington Road. She went on to study business and communications at Ballsbridge business college where she excelled.

Our dad was photographed outside the Mater hospital. While the photographer was focusing on the taoiseach, [Charles] Haughey, and a garda in deep conversation, there to the side of them was our dad with a 2,000-yard stare into space.

Our home went from the happy home, full of life and laugher, to just a house. The little ones had been taken to friends and family for a few days as we tried to comprehend the enormous events that hit our family. Our mam was heavily sedated ... our dad went missing for a few hours ... He was brought back to the house by a passing garda who found dad sitting on a bench on Sandymount Strand crying his eyes out.

Our mam and dad were truly heartbroken. It literally did break their hearts. Both passed away within 10 years of the Stardust, both at the young age of 56, leaving a young family behind.

My late dad, Arthur snr, had taken notes during the first Stardust tribunal in which he had a number of questions. I hope that our late father’s concerns, through this inquest, can be laid to rest with him and we can finally have a chance for truth and justice for our own and all the families.

Eric: You, my fire-haired sister with a smile so broad and a laugh filled with spring, lost your life in the most tragic way, and with that we lost everything/ Our folks grew old overnight/ my brother went grey/ My question of your return never went away/ I miss my “row row row your boat” big sister, every single day/ My son asks of his Auntie Thelma often/ I can’t answer his questions, as I was five when you were stolen from me/ We can never move on, as we’ve never had answers/ We can never shed light on what happened to all the midnight Stardust dancers.