Receiving a State apology has been “a deeply emotional day” for the family of Brian Stack, a son of the murdered prison officer has said, as he criticised the leader of Sinn Féin for not attending the sitting.
Mr Stack was the chief prison officer in Portlaoise when he was shot in the neck by the IRA in March 1983. He died 18 months later.
On Wednesday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin formally apologised on behalf of the State for failings in the garda investigation into the killing.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald was not present for the statements in the Dáil, which were watched by the Stack family from the distinguished visitors’ gallery.
Speaking to reporters after the apology, Austin Stack said his family was calling on her to demonstrate “moral courage” by addressing their concerns.
He and other members of the family had walked out of the chamber in protest when Sinn Féin representatives were speaking in Ms McDonald’s absence.
Mr Stack said: “The IRA were responsible for the murder of my father. The leader of the opposition has consistently said that the IRA campaign was justified, and 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 in withdrawing from the chamber when the Sinn Féin representatives were speaking.”
He said the family “remained open to contact” if the Sinn Féin leader wished to speak to them.
Ms McDonald was in Belfast on Wednesday to attend a police interview over her attendance at the Garvaghy Road protest in Portadown.
She told reporters: “I very much welcome the fact that the Taoiseach has offered this State apology to the Stack family – I can only imagine the trauma that they have been through for a long time, and I want to acknowledge their hurt.
“I want to acknowledge their right to heal, and for validation and vindication and I hope today is a very welcome day for them.”
Ms McDonald added: “The IRA has acknowledged responsibility and expressed sorrow for the death of Brian Stack, has said that it shouldn’t have happened, and I think they made those statements very clearly more than a decade ago – and I think that was the right and the correct thing.”
Earlier in the Dáil, Labour leader Ivana Bacik said former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams “wasted” an opportunity to provide answers to the Stack family during a statement in 2016.
Ms Bacik said: “As we all know, there are people – there must be people – who know who Brian Stack’s killer or killers were or are.
“Indeed, it’s been alleged that former members of this House either knew who the killer was, or indeed possessed information that would have been material to an investigation into the killing.”
She added: “It’s the Labour Party’s view that Gerry Adams wasted that opportunity in failing to provide the Stack family with substantive answers in that statement.”
Ms Bacik said there is no mechanism to allow Mr Adams to address the matter in the Dáil as a former member, but said Sinn Féin still had “outstanding questions to answer”.
Mr Stack said the family “remain hopeful” about ongoing garda inquiries and added: “The gardaí have more work to do, and we are liaising with the gardaí, and hopefully that will come to some fruition down the road.”
He said the apology is a “very significant step towards accountability” but said “important questions remain unanswered”.
Accompanied by his brothers Kieran and Oliver and their mother Sheila, he said: “We wish to sincerely thank the Taoiseach Micheál Martin and the Tánaiste Simon Harris for their moral and political courage and leadership in issuing this long-awaited State apology.
“We also wish to thank Minister Jim O’Callaghan for his commitment and work in bringing this apology to fruition.
“Our father, Brian Stack, served the State with extraordinary courage during a very difficult time in our history.
“His bravery was recognised by the Irish Prison Service’s highest bravery award and must never be forgotten.
“The apology brings great comfort to our family, particularly our mother, by firmly acknowledging the serious and repeated failings in three separate garda investigations into his murder, especially the initial investigation.”
Ms Bacik also asked Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan for a full report on the investigation into the killing to be disclosed to the Stack family.
Mr Stack said: “We have asked Minister O’Callaghan to furnish us with a redacted version of that report – that’s what we would be happy with.
“We just want to see the 194 recommendations – those are the shortcomings from the initial investigation – and we will be following up with Minister O’Callaghan in relation to that.”
Sinn Féin and the Department of Justice have been contacted for comment.