Abstract: The disclosure relates to multiprocessor handling of plural queues of pending I/O interrupt requests (I/O IRs) in a main storage (MS) shared by plural central processors (CPs). An input/output processor (IOP) inserts I/O IR entries onto the queues in accordance with the type of interrupt. The entries in the queues are only removed by the CPs, after their selection by a system controller (SC) for execution of an interruption handling program.An I/O interrupt pending register in I/O interrupt controller circuits in the SC is used in selecting CPs to handle the I/O IRs on the queues. The bit positions in the pending register are respectively assigned to the I/O IR queues in MS, and the order of the bit positions determines the priority among the queues for CP handling. An I/O IR command from the IOP to the SC sets a corresponding queue bit position in the pending register and controls the addition of an entry on the corresponding queue in MS.