The shooting
On March 25, 1983, Brian Stack left an amateur boxing event at the National Stadium in Dublin. He was shot in the back of the neck on South Circular Road. The attack left him paralysed and with profound neurological injuries.
Stack lived for another 18 months. When he died in September 1984, the inquest attributed his death to the injuries caused by the shooting, turning the investigation formally into a murder inquiry.
A case without an individual conviction
For decades, the identity of the people directly responsible remained publicly unresolved. The Provisional IRA initially denied involvement. In 2013, after a long campaign by Stack’s sons Austin and Oliver, a senior IRA figure provided the family with a statement acknowledging that the organization was responsible for the death.
The statement said the operation had not been authorized by the IRA leadership and expressed regret. That acknowledgment is significant historical evidence, but it did not name a person who was then prosecuted and convicted. Crime by Region therefore classifies the case as unsolved at the individual criminal-responsibility level.
Investigation failures and later review
The Stack family repeatedly sought answers about the original investigation. In 2019, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris apologized to the family for failings and shortcomings in the handling of the case. Gardaí said the investigation remained open.
In 2023, after a meeting with senior Garda officers, the family said investigators had identified new lines of enquiry and that a file previously sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions was being returned for further investigation. Public reporting through 2026 has not established that any individual was convicted of the murder.
What remains unresolved
The central unanswered questions are who fired the shot, who directed or facilitated the operation, and whether available evidence can still meet the criminal standard of proof after more than four decades. Allegations concerning particular individuals have appeared in political debate, media reporting and civil proceedings, but those claims are not treated here as criminal findings.
The case is also a record of investigative accountability. The official Garda apology acknowledged that the original handling of the investigation had serious deficiencies that affected the family’s search for justice.
Timeline
March 25, 1983: Brian Stack is shot after leaving a boxing event in Dublin.
September 1984: Stack dies from the injuries he sustained in the shooting.
August 2013: the Stack family receives a statement acknowledging Provisional IRA responsibility.
2019: Garda Commissioner Drew Harris apologizes to the family for failings and shortcomings in the investigation; Gardaí say the murder inquiry remains open.
March 2023: the family says Gardaí have identified new lines of enquiry and are carrying out further investigation.
2026: no individual conviction for Stack’s murder has been publicly established.
Current status
The murder remains unsolved at the level of individual criminal responsibility. The Provisional IRA acknowledged organizational responsibility, but no named person has been convicted of carrying out or ordering the killing.