The family of a senior Irish prison officer murdered by the IRA received a state apology on Wednesday for failings in the investigations into his killing. The Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, delivered the apology on behalf of the state during a sitting of the Dáil, the Irish parliament, with Stack’s wife and sons present in the chamber.
Brian Stack, a father of three, was shot in the back of the neck in 1983 as he crossed a street in Dublin after leaving a boxing match. He was the chief prison officer at the high-security Portlaoise Prison. He was left paralysed and died 18 months later, aged 49. Three separate garda investigations followed, but nobody was brought to justice for the killing.
Investigation failures listed in the Dáil
Martin told the Dáil that a review ordered by the Garda Commissioner in 2007 had been carried out by the Garda Serious Crime Review Team. The review made more than 200 recommendations relating to the cases. It found “serious failings” and “shortcomings in the management” of the earlier Garda investigation.
Martin listed a series of specific failures. According to him, the force did not keep a map of the crime scene, did not keep a motorbike helmet found nearby that was linked to the crime, and did not safeguard exhibits including fingerprints, samples and debris gathered during the inquiry. He also said some potentially important lines of inquiry were not recorded, including whether Stack’s colleagues and prisoners at the prison were interviewed.
- No map of the crime scene was kept
- A motorbike helmet linked to the crime was not retained
- Fingerprints, samples and debris from the inquiry could not be secured
- Colleagues and prisoners at Portlaoise were not documented as interviewed
- Stack’s family and wider circle of friends were not interviewed
Martin said it was “plainly and utterly unacceptable” that material of potential evidential value could no longer be found. He said the Garda had admitted these were serious matters that affected the investigation. “As Taoiseach, and on behalf of the Government, I want to formally apologise to the Stack family for these failings,” he said.
Family seeks sight of review report
Austin Stack, Brian’s son, said the apology “means an awful lot to us”. Speaking on a Northern Ireland radio programme, he said it would bring comfort to his mother and his two brothers because the state was publicly acknowledging the errors and omissions that had occurred.
He said the serious crime review team had found 194 errors and omissions in the first investigation. He said the family had met several justice ministers over the years and had asked to see that report. Each time, he said, they were told the document was internally valid but that they could not see it.
Austin Stack said Wednesday would be an emotional day for the family. “My dad was doing a very difficult job at a very difficult time in our history,” he said. He noted that his father had received the Irish Prison Service’s highest bravery award for that work, and called the apology further vindication of him and his good name.
Before the Dáil proceedings, the Stack family held a private meeting at government buildings with Martin and Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan. Separately, in 2019 the family had received an apology from the then garda commissioner, Drew Harris, over how the murder inquiry was handled. In 2023, gardaí told the family that the file on the case, which was with the Director of Public Prosecutions, was being sent back to police for further investigation.
Reactions from London, Dublin and Sinn Féin
In the House of Commons, Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant said he “warmly welcomed” the Taoiseach’s apology. Responding to a question from Democratic Unionist Party leader Gavin Robinson, he said Dublin’s decision was “entirely right and proper” and linked it to MPs’ debates that week on the government’s Troubles legacy bill. He said it was “incumbent on all of us to make fulsome and not mealy-mouthed apologies”.
The IRA admitted killing Stack in 2013, after his family mounted a long campaign to obtain that admission. At the time, Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams expressed his “regret” to the family over the killing. A Sinn Féin spokesperson later quoted a 2013 statement from a former IRA leader, which said IRA volunteers were responsible, that the shooting had not been authorised by the IRA leadership, and that it should not have happened.
Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee also spoke during the apology. “The State failed you during their investigation into Brian’s killing,” she said. She said Stack had been targeted by the Provisional IRA and that the group was responsible. Pearse Doherty, a Donegal Sinn Féin TD, said the family’s long search for answers deserved respect, adding that no apology could restore Brian Stack’s life but that it could recognise the wrong done.
Stack was the only prison officer in the state killed by violence related to the Troubles in Northern Ireland, according to the reporting in the source material. His family has said the apology is an important step, though the review report they have requested remains out of their reach.
