Two sitting Sinn Féin TDs have sensationally stated in the Dáil they were not involved in the 1983 killing of prison officer Brian Stack.

Dessie Ellis and Martin Ferris made the short statements after being named under Dáil privilege by a Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell.

Deputy Ellis said he could not have been involved.

“I was actually in jail for the period in Portlaoise and before that, in America. So, you should check your facts,” he said angrily.

Read: Adams: ‘Why on earth would I say that I received the names from (Austin Stack) if I didn’t?’

Deputy Martin Ferris was also named. He responded, but his microphone was not switched on.

The Kerry TD said that in 2013 he met gardaí at their request regarding the killing. He said he cooperated and had nothing to answer for.

The row erupted after Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams made a statement in the Dail on his dealings with Mr Stack’s sons Austin and Oliver as they sought answers over their father’s death.

Murdered prison officer Mr Stack was shot in the back of the neck on March 25 1983 after leaving a boxing contest at Dublin’s National Stadium.

Left paralysed and brain-damaged, he suffered for a further 18 months before dying from his injuries at the age of 47.

His sons had several meetings with Mr Adams in 2013 and in August that year they travelled in a blacked out van to an undisclosed location in Northern Ireland where a former Provo chief admitted the terror group was responsible for their father’s murder.

The IRA said the killing had not been sanctioned by the leadership but ordered by an individual.

At the time the Stacks accused Garda detectives of botching the original investigation. They also said other officers who had taken the case on in later years refused to co-operate with the family.