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'Sickening' pro-IRA incidents growing across Ireland - Austin Stack

He says there's a "huge difference" between rebel songs associated with the War of Independence and the IRA
Jack Quann
Jack Quann

09.23 16 Aug 2022


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'Sickening' pro-IRA incidents...

'Sickening' pro-IRA incidents growing across Ireland - Austin Stack

Jack Quann
Jack Quann

09.23 16 Aug 2022


Share this article


The son of a prison officer murdered by the Provisional IRA says a rise in pro-IRA incidents is 'sickening' for him and his family.

Austin Stack was speaking as two incidents in Northern Ireland sparked backlash about pro-IRA sentiments.

A Wolfe Tones concert on Sunday was labelled a 'hate fest' for republican chants.

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Meanwhile Scottish footballer John Herron was suspended by Larne Football Club on Monday for wearing a 'Tiocfaidh ár lá' shirt.

Austin Stack is the son of prison officer Brian Stack, who was murdered in 1983.

He told Newstalk Breakfast most of those supporting the narrative weren't alive during The Troubles.

"The incidents you've outlined are predominantly in Northern Ireland - but you'll find that this has been growing down here as well.

"It's a creep, it's a narrative that has grown.

"The young kids - and predominantly young kids, teenagers - people up to their mid-20s that are doing this: they're people that weren't around during the '70s and '80s when the IRA massacred 1,800 people on this island.

"What mustn't be forgotten is the majority of those that the IRA killed and murdered were from their own community, the Catholic nationalist community.

"They were not supported at the time."

'It retraumatises my family'

Austin says people using pro-IRA chants or songs should be aware what's behind it.

"What these young people need to look at is the type of thing that the IRA were saying.

"Leaving aside my own situation, it's quite sickening for me - and it retraumatises my family - when you hear this stuff going on.

"My dad was walking down the street across the road from a boxing tournament, and he was shot in the back of the head".

But he believes there's a "huge difference" between rebel songs associated with the War of Independence and the IRA.

"Rebel songs from something that happened back in the 1920s - OK.

"What you have to remember is that was the War of Independence, and that was a war that was legitimised by the Dáil at the time.

"The difference being, in The Troubles in Northern Ireland, that was not in any way [or] form a legitimate campaign.

"It was a terrorist campaign".

Main image: Austin Stack (centre) speaking in May 2013, after meeting then-Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams at Leinster House in Dublin. Picture by: PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo/Niall Carson

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Austin Stack Ira Ireland John Herron Larne FC Newstalk Breakfast Northern Ireland Provisional IRA Rebel Songs Terrorism The Troubles Tiocfaidh Ar La War Of Independence Wolfe Tones Concert

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