SINN FÉIN LEADER Gerry Adams is to meet the family of a prison officer who was shot and fatally injured outside the National Stadium in Dublin 30 years ago.
Brian Stack, the chief prison officer in Portlaoise jail, died of his injuries more than one year after he was shot as he left a boxing match at the venue on 25 March 1983. His killing was believed to be linked to his role in preventing IRA prisoners from breaking out from the jail, but no motive was ever made public and no-one has ever been convicted of his killing.
Gerry Adams said this evening that he will meet Stack’s family in Leinster House on Thursday evening. Adams had said at the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis last month that he would meet with the families of victims of the conflict in Northern Ireland if any of them wished to.
Adams said that Stack’s family were looking for an admission of responsibility and details of why the father-of-three was killed in order to find closure.
“In their request for a meeting the family state that they are ‘looking for answers and closure and in no way are we seeking any form of revenge,’” said Adams.
The Sinn Féin president said he was happy to meet with the family but has told the family that he does not want to raise their expectations that he will be able to resolve any of the issues for them.
When asked about the killing of Brian Stack on RTE’s Prime Time last week, Adams said that he does not know who killed the prison officer.
Earlier this year Adams apologised to the family of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe and other members of Irish State forces who were killed by republicans during the conflict in Northern Ireland. At the time, Adams said that he was “very sorry for the pain and loss inflicted upon those families”.
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