'Murder is murder,' says Michael Noonan as he raises pressure on Gerry Adams over Brian Stack

Austin Stack, a son of Brian Stack, yesterday confronted Mr Adams during a pre-arranged Sinn Féin press conference in Dublin.

Mr Stack accused Mr Adams of telling lies about his knowledge of the murder of his father.

Mr Adams has strenuously denied the claims.

Austin Stack said Mr Adams should give gardaí the name of a senior IRA member who agreed to meet him and his brother Oliver Stack in a blacked out van and tell them what they knew of the murder.

Speaking in Limerick this morning, Michael Noonan, a former Fine Gael Justice Minister, specifically called on Mr Adams to ensure he gave gardaí the identities of the two men involved in the setting up of this meeting.

"There is a particular person the Stack family met, and there is a particular van driver who took them there, and both of them may be in a position to give information to the guards, and like any (responsible) citizens they should do so now. Mr Adams should ensure that they do so," Mr Noonan said.

"Murder is murder, and Brian Stack was doing his job in Portloaise Prison, and the gardaí still have that enquiry open. Any person, whether they are a TD, or a councillor, or a straightforward citizen, has an obligation to give information to the guards if they have it about a murder that was purported," he added.

Mr Noonan said any attempt by Sinn Féin "to be trying to mix up (the murder of Mr Stack) with the peace process is a load of nonsense".

Michael Noonan said he had "no evidence whatsoever" that political rivals of Sinn Féin's were behind the Stack family confronting Mr Adams in Dublin yesterday

"I think what the leaders of the main political parties are asking is normal in any democratic society; if a murder takes place, and people have information about that murder, they are obliged to give it to the investigating authorities, in this case An Garda Síochána," Mr Noonan added.