Son of murdered prison officer slams SF leader over return of suspended senator

The son of an Irish prison officer who was murdered by the IRA has hit out at the leader of Sinn Fein for allowing a senator who was suspended after tweeting controversial remarks about the killing to resume her party duties.
By The Newsroom
Published 19th Jun 2018, 12:00 BST
Updated 19th Jun 2018, 16:57 BST
Austin Stack, son of murdered prison officer Brian Stack.Austin Stack, son of murdered prison officer Brian Stack.
Austin Stack, son of murdered prison officer Brian Stack.

Senator Marie Devine sparked controversy in March this year by retweeting a tweet from a parody government account which referred to Brian Stack – the chief prison officer at Portlaoise Prison, who was shot from behind as he left a boxing match in Dublin in March 1983 – as a “sadist”.

Before apologising for the tweet, she sent follow-up tweets that appeared to accuse Brian Stack’s prison officer son, Austin, of being overly-sensitive about the issue.

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Senator Devine was subsequently suspended from Sinn Féin for a period of three months for her actions, which party leader Mary Lou McDonald described as “a catastrophic error of judgement”.

With the senator due to resume her duties today, Austin Stack took to Twitter to express his disgust at the move, accusing the Sinn Fein leader of being “incapable of respect and compassion”.

Mr Stack, who alongside his brother Ollie led a campaign to find out who killed their father, has previously called for Senator Devine to resign her position over the controversy.

Related topics:Sinn FeinIRA