Victim's son claims gardai '˜frustrating' Stack murder probe

Austin Stack, whose father Brian was shot in the neck as he left a boxing tournament, claims that “significant information” on his father’s killers was passed to gardai in 1990 but not acted upon.

The chief prison officer at Portlaoise died from his injuries 18 months after the gun attack aged 47.

Mr Stack alleges that, in November 2015, he was informed by a retired senior Garda officer that important information, which had come from an IRA informant, was passed to gardai in 1990 and that this information contained details of those responsible for his father’s murder.

However, when the Stack family met a police assistant commissioner in January 2016, the Garda delegation “rubbished” the claim using “unparliamentary language,” Mr Stack has said.

He goes on to say that a subsequent meeting was held in March 2017 where gardai apologised for the manner in which the family’s claim had been dismissed – and “admitted that they had found the file in another section and that it contained very significant information”.

Mr Stack said: “It has become obvious to us that one section of the Garda is frustrating the investigation in order to protect an informant who they say they have a duty of care to. Gardai also have a duty of care to my mother and our family and we feel that the role my father played in protecting the state is being undermined by a lack of a proper investigation.”

Mr Stack went on to say that his family are continuing to seek a meeting with the Garda commissioner and has called on Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to intervene.

In 2013, Mr Stack and his brother Oliver travelled with Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams to a secret meeting where a senior republican admitted that the IRA was responsible, but said the murder had not been sanctioned by the Provo leadership.

Yesterday, a Garda spokesman denied that some detectives are refusing to co-operate with the inquiry, or frustrating the efforts to catch the killers.

“The investigators leading the investigation relating to the death of Mr Brian Stack are satisfied that they have been provided with all the relevant information they require from within An Garda Síochána. The investigation team is receiving the co-operation of all relevant sections within An Garda Síochána in order to pursue all possible lines of inquiry,” he said.

The spokesman said that in order to protect investigations, “An Garda Síochána does not comment on the detail of ongoing investigations,” and “does not comment on remarks by third-parties”.

He added: “An Garda Síochána maintains regular contact with the Stack family for the purpose of keeping them informed of any relevant developments in this investigation.

“An Garda Síochána is determined to bring the investigation into the death of Mr Brian Stack to a successful conclusion.”

Addressing a meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement in November, Mr Stack claimed that a small number of gardai and prison officers had colluded with the Provos in the early 1980s.