A public house across the street from the Taoiseach's constituency office was apparently in breach of safety regulations this weekend as over 120 people bereaved by the Stardust tragedy protested only metres away.
Survivors and bereaved relatives of the 1981 disaster, in which 48 young people died when they could not escape a fire in the Stardust nightclub, discovered a stool jammed down on the release bars of an exit door in Fagan's pub in Drumcondra during a break from their four-hour protest.
More than 120 people had gathered on Saturday outside the Taoiseach's office, across from the popular Drumcondra pub, to call for a new inquiry into the Stardust tragedy, in which some fire exits were allegedly chained.
Fagan's is also renowned for having Taoiseach Bertie Ahern as one of its regular customers.
Speaking to The Irish Times last night, Stardust survivor Antoinette Keegan, whose two sisters died in the fire, said she had been deeply angered by the episode in the public house.
"They just jammed a stool behind the panic bars as I was sitting in the smoke room. I was very frightened because of what happened in the Stardust.
"Here we were protesting about the fact that chains had been tied to fire exits 25 years ago and it all just came back to me and I ran out of the place."
She said she immediately approached a member of staff and asked them to explain why they had blocked a fire exit.
"He said he had just put sand and cement down and the stool would only be there for an hour or two," said Ms Keegan.
She said that aside from the health and safety concerns involved, the act of blocking the fire exit was deeply insensitive after so many bereaved families had arrived into the pub with large Stardust placards.
Another eyewitness independent of the Stardust families said he became immediately concerned when a member of staff blocked the door because it would have proven difficult to remove the stool in an emergency.
Last week an Ennis nightclub owner was fined €1,500 for breaching fire regulations by having two double doors locked.
The judge presiding over the case told the court at the time: "The inability of people to escape is a serious matter and it is only weeks after the anniversary of the Stardust and that puts into context the seriousness of this matter."
The Irish Times made repeated efforts to contact the manager of Fagan's last night but no one was available for comment.