Gardaí release pensioner held over murder of Cork dissident

A 77-year-old man questioned about the murder of former Real IRA chief of staff Aidan O’Driscoll in Cork has been freed without charge.

The man, who was arrested at a rented house in Blarney on Wednesday morning, was released just before midnight on Thursday by gardaí who had been questioning him at Togher Garda station.

A Garda spokesman confirmed that gardaí will now prepare a file for the DPP on the man in relation to the murder of Mr O'Driscoll. The father of two was shot dead in Blackpool in Cork on December7th.

Meanwhile, gardaí have obtained extensions to the detention of three other men and a woman all arrested for questioning about the murder of Mr O’Driscoll.

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One man, aged 31, was arrested at a house in the Mallow Road area of Cork while two men, aged 28 and 22, were arrested in Blarney while the 19-year-old woman was also arrested in Blarney.

The three men were being questioned at the Bridewell, Mayfield and Gurranebraher Garda station after being arrested under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act at around 6.30am on Wednesday.

Gardaí applied at Cork District Court for an extension to the men’s detention which allows detectives to continue to question them for a further 72 hours.

Detectives also successfully applied for a 24 hour extension to the detention of the woman who was arrested under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and held at Togher Garda station.

The arrests were the first by gardaí for the murder of Mr O’Driscoll who served for a period as self-styled chief of staff of the Real IRA but had fallen out with former associates in more recent times.

Mr O’Driscoll was shot dead by two gunmen as he walked home from work along the Commons Road near Blackpool Church on Cork’s northside.