The Irish state has officially apologized to the family of Brian Stack, a senior prison officer murdered by the IRA in 1983 - an apology that arrives roughly four decades after the fact, and only after a review found 194 errors and omissions in the original investigation. Nothing says "sorry" like a statute of limitations on competence.
Stack, a father of three and chief prison officer at the high-security Portlaoise Prison, was crossing a street in Dublin after leaving a boxing match in 1983 when he was shot in the back of the neck. He was left paralysed and died 18 months later, aged 49. Three separate garda investigations followed. No one was ever brought to justice.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin offered the state apology during a sitting of the Dáil on Wednesday, with Stack's wife Sheila and sons Austin, Kieran and Oliver present in the chamber. Martin noted that the Provisional IRA is "still in the possession of all the facts" - a diplomatic way of saying the people who know what happened are not sharing.
The Stack brothers theatrically exited the Dáil chamber when Sinn Féin TDs rose to speak. Outside Leinster House, Austin Stack called on Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald to "address our concerns," saying: "The IRA were responsible for the murder of my father. The leader of the opposition has consistently said that the IRA campaign was justified. The leader of the opposition did not dignify and respect my family by coming into the chamber today and because of that, we took the action that we did." Sinn Féin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
McDonald, speaking to reporters in Belfast where the Police Service of Northern Ireland was interviewing her over Garvaghy Road protests, welcomed the apology and said she could "only imagine the trauma that they have been through." She noted the IRA acknowledged responsibility and expressed sorrow "more than a decade ago" - which, to be fair, is more than the state managed until now.
Austin Stack told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster the apology "means an awful lot to us" and is "a great sense of comfort, particularly to my mother and to myself and my two brothers, because the state is officially owning up to the errors and the omissions." He revealed the serious crime review team found 194 errors and omissions in the first investigation - a number that suggests the original probe was less an investigation and more a light suggestion. The family has repeatedly requested the report and been told each time it's an internally valid document they cannot see.
"My dad was doing a very difficult job at a very difficult time in our history," Austin said. "He was awarded the Irish Prison Service's highest bravery award for that work, and this is further vindication of him and his good name."
Before the Dáil proceedings, the 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 by the Garda Serious Crime Review Team, which produced over 200 recommendations and found "serious failings" and "shortcomings in the management" of the earlier investigation.
Martin listed those failures in the Dáil: failure to keep a map of the crime scene; failure to keep a motorbike helmet found near the scene and linked to the crime; failure to keep custody of material exhibits including fingerprints, samples and debris; failure to document whether Brian's colleagues at Portlaoise Prison or prisoners there were interviewed; and failure to interview the Stack family or Brian's wider group of friends. "It is plainly and utterly unacceptable that material that was potentially of evidential value can no longer be located by An Garda Síochána," Martin said, formally apologizing.
In Westminster, Secretary of State Sir Chris Bryant "warmly welcomed" the apology during Northern Ireland questions, telling DUP leader Gavin Robinson that Dublin's move was "entirely right and proper" and that it was "incumbent on all of us to make fulsome and not mealy-mouthed apologies" - a standard worth laminating.
The IRA admitted killing Stack in 2013 after a long family campaign, and the family met Sinn Féin's Gerry Adams and a former IRA commander; Adams expressed "regret" at the time. A Sinn Féin spokesperson said a 2013 statement by a former IRA leader acknowledged volunteers were responsible, said the shooting was not authorized by IRA leadership, accepted responsibility, said it should not have happened and expressed sorrow. The spokesperson added: "As republicans, we acknowledge the hurt caused by republican actions. That suffering cannot be disowned. We are sorry for all the lives lost during the period of conflict on this island, without exception."
Foreign affairs minister Helen McEntee told the Dáil: "The State failed you during their investigation into Brian's killing." She said Brian was "targeted" by the Provisional IRA and "they are responsible," adding: "To Sheila and to all of the Stack family, we are deeply sorry... I hope today's formal apology brings some measure of peace and comfort."
Donegal Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty said the family's "long search for answers deserves respect" and that "no apology can restore Brian Stack's life or return the years spent seeking answers but it can recognise the wrong done," noting the garda failures "compounded" the family's suffering.
The family received an apology from then garda commissioner Drew Harris in 2019 over the handling of the investigation. In 2023, gardaí told the family the file - then with the Director of Public Prosecutions - was being sent back to police for further investigation. Stack remains the only prison officer in the state killed by violence related to the Troubles in Northern Ireland.