Gerry Adams responds to newspaper reports on 1980s killing of Chief Prison Officer Brian Stack

GERRY ADAMS TD has commented on newspaper reports about the killing of Portlaoise Chief Prison Officer Brian Stack, who was shot in 1983 and who died the following year.

It was subsequently established that IRA Volunteers had carried out the killing but it had not been authorised by the IRA leadership.

Gerry Adams said:

“I met the Stack family in 2013 at their request. I extended my sympathy to them and I said that the killing of Brian Stack was wrong.

“I did my utmost to assist them.”

The Sinn Féin leader said that he had “responded extensively to this issue” when it was raised during the Dáil election campaign and continued:

“In the course of our conversations I was given a number of names by Austin Stack which he told me he had been given by journalistic and Garda sources.

“Austin asked me to ask those named if they would meet with him. I did this with those I could contact. They declined to meet at that time. I told Austin Stack this.

“I passed the names on to the Garda Commissioner while making it clear that I have no information on the death of Brian Stack.

“The Garda are the only body that can investigate this matter. I am prepared to co-operate with them on this.”