Sinn Féin claims IRA doesn’t exist ‘blatant lie’

The son of the only prison officer murdered in the Republic during the Troubles has said Sinn Féin claims the Provisional IRA no longer exists are a “blatant lie”.

Austin Stack issued the stark claim after revealing he and his brother Oliver were driven to an undisclosed location in a blacked-out van two years ago to receive a Provisional IRA statement admitting the organisation’s role in their father Brian’s 1983 death.

The meeting, he said, had been organised after weeks of discussions with Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams.