The Taoiseach has called on Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams to clarify the confusion surrounding names he gave to the Garda commissioner relating to the murder of a prison officer.

Mr Adams has said the names of three Sinn Féin figures, and a fourth former IRA figure, said to be connected with the murder of Brian Stack in 1983, were given to him by Austin Stack, the deceased's son. Austin Stack has denied this, insisting that he never gave any names to Mr Adams.

Enda Kenny told the Dáil on Monday the Stack family deserved to know the truth. "Sinn Féin needs to address this," the Taoiseach said.

Speaking on Tuesday night from Havana, where he is attending the funeral of Fidel Castro, Mr Adams again said he had been given the names by Austin Stack.

Meeting arranged

Having been approached by the Stack family, Mr Adams said he “asked a person who I trust to go off and talk to other people” and a meeting between former IRA members and the Stack family was arranged. The IRA expressed regret at the murder, but maintained the operation was not sanctioned by the IRA leadership.

Mr Adams also said he spoke to three of the four people he says Austin Stack identified to him as being involved in the murder – two of whom are Sinn Féin public representatives – and asked them to meet the family. They declined to comply with his request. He said they assured him they were not involved in the murder. He subsequently passed the names on to the Garda commissioner.

However, Austin Stack contradicted Mr Adams’s account and said he was “absolutely categoric” he never mentioned any names in the course of “five or six” meetings.

“Gerry Adams asked me on the first occasion if I would be prepared to discuss names. I did tell him what I knew about how the operation was sanctioned and the details of it. But we never gave him any names,” Mr Stack said.

Brian Stack (48), who was the chief prison officer in Portlaoise, was shot in Dublin on March 25th, 1983. He died 18 months later.