Brian Stack, a senior prison officer at Portlaoise Prison, was shot in the back of the neck while leaving a boxing match in Dublin in 1983. He survived the attack but remained paralyzed for 18 months before dying at age 49. Three separate investigations by the Irish police, known as garda, examined his death, but no one was ever charged.

On Wednesday, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin offered a formal apology in the Dáil on behalf of the state for investigative failures that delayed justice for Stack’s family. The apology followed a review by the Garda Serious Crime Review Team that identified 194 errors and omissions in the original inquiries, including lost crime‑scene maps, an unrecovered motorbike helmet, and unpreserved forensic evidence such as fingerprints and debris. Martin noted that the police also failed to interview Stack’s colleagues, prisoners, or the victim’s relatives.

Stack’s wife, Sheila, and their three sons — Austin, Kieran, and Oliver — were present during the parliamentary address. After Sinn Féin members spoke, the brothers left the chamber, urging party leader Mary Lou McDonald to confront their concerns directly. Austin Stack later called on McDonald to address the family’s grievances, citing what he described as a lack of respect shown to their father’s memory.

The apology was welcomed by several officials, including Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee, who stated that the Provisional IRA bore responsibility for Stack’s killing. A Sinn Féin spokesperson reiterated the party’s 2013 acknowledgment of IRA involvement, expressing sorrow and emphasizing that republican actions caused lasting harm. The family described the state’s admission of fault as a significant source of comfort after decades of seeking accountability.

In 2023, gardaí informed the Stack family that the case file, previously held by the Director of Public Prosecutions, would be reopened for further investigation. Stack remains the only Irish prison officer known to have been killed by violence linked to the Troubles in Northern Ireland.