At the inquests last week there were plenty of handshakes, hugs, and kisses. Reunions of women and men, all of a certain age, all sharing a common bond. They were all there the night the Stardust went up in flames.
They were back together as the proceedings continued to hear from witnesses who were in the club and who managed to make it out.
Some of those giving evidence over the past few days were at the disco together as groups of friends. We've heard how they would pick out a table inside the ballroom and sit around it. Last week, they all sat in a row of seats waiting for their turn to take to the witness box.
Some have kept in touch with each other over the decades since. Others have drifted apart.
All of them last week described how they made their escape from the Stardust in the early hours of St Valentine’s Day, 1981.
June Tighe was just 15 years old. She was there that night and got out. The court heard how she feared she wouldn’t. Giving evidence last Wednesday, she was the youngest patron we’ve heard from so far.
Despite her age and the fact that the dance was advertised as an over 21s event, she told the jury that she had been at the club "loads of times", and said she did not have any difficulty getting in and was not asked for I.D on the night.
She described initially seeing the fire coming across the ceiling and how she, along with her friend, then went to the cloakroom to collect their coats but that the situation then quickly deteriorated.
The main lobby filled with smoke, darkness, and screaming as they tried to make it out of the main entrance.
"Everyone was screaming. We were fighting for our lives, I was fighting for my life," she said. "We were all in the area screaming… I remember shouting open the door."
The court also heard how she fell on the floor and people were walking on her.
"I was on the ground, I was on people’s shoulders, I was trying to survive," she said.
She said people were pushing on the door, hoping it would open. The court heard how she did end up making it out and described the relief. "All I remember is was we got air... just air".
Later in the week, Mark Swaine gave a harrowing account of the scene outside the club as people poured into the night. He, along with his then-girlfriend, now wife, managed to escape through exit 3.It was not straight forward. He told the court that when he got into the passageway leading to the exit doors, there were a number of people in front of him.
"There was a lot of screaming, a lot of panic," he said, adding that the exit doors were not open at that stage. He told gardaí in 1981 how he heard people shout "get that chain off the door for f*** sake". He also described how the people in front were kicking the door and it then burst open.
After he got out, he said he saw "a lot" of people "on fire" coming out of the burning building. He told the court how he "tended" to them and was trying to put them out.
He said that people were "smouldering", and their clothes burning. He said he was trying to put out the flames, using "just my hands and arms", and trying to settle people down.
He also tried to break windows to help those still inside. "I saw some girls' hands in the windows pressing against it," he said. Des Fahy, KC, representing families of the victims thanked Mr Swaine for all his efforts on the night, saying it was "a very brave thing to do".
Another witness spoke about the difficulties getting out exit 3. Christine Fullam, who was 31 years old at the time of the fire, told the court that her friend initially alerted her that something was wrong, and described the "black smoke swirling across the ceiling".
She told the jury how she looked over at the main entrance, exit 2, and said it was "jammed" and then she headed for exit 3. When she reached the doors, they were shut, she said. "The doors were locked, we couldn’t get out, end of story."
She said chains were wrapped tightly around the bars and that she remembered "holding the padlock in my hand… I pulled at the lock several times, but it had no effect. I tried to open it for what seemed two or three minutes."
After "some time", three tall men then ran into the passageway. She said "they were running at the door, jumping at it and kicking it." After the third time running at it, the door burst open.
The coroner’s court also heard of other stories of escape.
Martina Doyle spoke of being terrified and disorientated in the complete darkness. She said her main objective was to "just keep breathing". She was 16 at time.
She spoke of a man called 'Bobby' who told her to follow him out. She was holding on to him as he led the way to exit 3.At one point, he fell in the passageway leading to the doors. She felt around in the darkness and helped him up. The pair then made it out in the fresh air. She told the court "that man saved my life, he brought me home, and I never saw him again".
On Tuesday, the inquests heard again about Teresa McDonnell, who was one of the 48 victims. She was 16 years old.
Brian Killeen told the court that he had been in her company that night. When the fire became apparent, they made their way towards the main entrance. Teresa then turned back to tell her older sister, Lorraine, to get out.
Mr Killeen said that was the last time he saw Teresa alive.
He said once outside, he and others were looking for her constantly and went around the hospitals to find her. He searched for her all day Saturday and on Sunday until he found out she was dead.
In the public gallery, listening to his evidence sat Teresa’s sister, Lorraine. She has been attending most days. Last Tuesday was particularly upsetting.
Last June, she told the court how she struggled dealing with the loss of her little sister. She said Teresa "forgot about her own safety and sought me out to tell me there was a fire and that I was to get out." She said the words "Lorraine get out, there's a fire" are engraved on her mind and haunted her sleep for years.
At the beginning of the week, there was news of another death.
The coroner, Dr Myra Cullinane, passed on her condolences to the family of Mary O'Connor who died last Monday. She was the mother of 17-year-old George O'Connor who was one of the 48 killed in the 1981 fire.
Last May, George's sister, Donna, told the inquests that the dance that night was the first and the last that he ever attended. She also described how George was getting ready to go that night. It was his mother Mary who had ironed his shirt.
The inquests resume next Tuesday and will hear from more survivors.
Forty years on, the Stardust fire has ensured they remain connected.
It's a bond no one would have wished for.
