The family of a senior Irish prison officer murdered by the IRA has received a state apology on Wednesday for failings in investigations into his killing. Brian Stack, a father of three, was crossing a street in Dublin, after leaving a boxing match in 1983, when he was shot in the back of the neck. Stack, who was the chief prison officer at the high-security Portlaoise Prison, was left paralysed and died 18 months later, aged 49.
There were three separate garda (Irish police) investigations into Stack's death, but no-one was brought to justice for his killing. Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin offered an apology on behalf of the state during a sitting of the Dáil (Irish parliament). Stack's wife Sheila and her sons Austin, Kieran and Oliver were in the Dáil chamber for the apology.
Martin said the Provisional IRA is "still in the possession of all the facts" on this case. Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme Brian Stack's son, Austin Stack, said the apology "means an awful lot to us". "It's a great sense of comfort, to particularly my mother and to myself and my two brothers, because the state is officially owning up to the errors and the missions that happened," he said.
He went on to say that the serious crime review team looked into the first investigation and "they found 194 errors and omissions". "So I have, and my family have, met with several ministers for justice down through the years and we have a requested sight of that report. "And every time we've requested it, we've been told that it's an internally valid document and that we cannot see it." Austin Stack said that Wednesday would be a very emotional day for his family.
"My dad was doing a very difficult job at a very difficult time in our history," he said. "He was awarded the Irish Prison Service's highest bravery award for that work that he was doing. And this is further vindication of him and his good name." Prior to the Dáil proceedings, the Stack family held a private meeting at government buildings with the taoiseach and Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan.
In 2007 the Garda Commissioner directed a review of the case by the Garda Serious Crime Review Team. Over 200 recommendations were made relating to the cases. This review led to "serious failings" being found as well as "the shortcomings in the management" of the earlier Garda investigation.
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