A 20 YEAR OLD man and a 16 year old girl are being questioned about the killing of Co Galway farmer Mr Tommy Casey (68).
Three men questioned in connection with the murder of the Dublin civil servant, Ms Marilyn Rynn, at Christmas, released last night and are not expected to face charges.
The three men were questioned about their movements on the Thursday and Friday before Christmas when Ms Rynn was attacked, raped and strangled at a park near her home in Blanchardstown, Dublin. It is understood gardai have a list of men with records of assault and are working to eliminate from their suspect list spoke to four men last week.
Two men, including one who served a nine year sentence for murdering a teenage girl in Dublin in 1984, were arrested at a house in Chapelizod, Dublin, yesterday. The third man went voluntarily to Finglas Garda Station. They were all released last evening.
The man and girl being held in Galway are also being questioned about a robbery at a farmhouse on the same night Mr Casey was beaten to death in Oranmore, outside Galway city.
Gardai arrested the man in Ennistymon, Co Clare, yesterday. The teenage girl was arrested outside Dublin District Court after she appeared on a theft charge and was taken to Mill Street Station, Galway.
Gardai investigating Mr Casey's murder are understood to have been seeking the occupants of an English registered car which was seen near one of the houses burgled on the night Mr Casey was killed. The car is believed to have been stopped by gardai at Dublin Port. It is believed the man and girl have been travelling between England and the west of Ireland.
The couple are both members of the travelling community. Two other men, also travellers, were questioned about Mr Casey's murder yesterday but were released in the afternoon and are understood to have been cleared of any suspicion in the murder although they may face minor theft charges.
There were no reported developments in the search for the murderer of the Co Kildare woman, Ms Joyce Quinn. Gardai said they were receiving good assistance from the public and two more people had come forward with details about her final movements. Gardai were still searching for Ms Quinn's mobile telephone and were still combing land at the Curragh.
They are understood to suspect Ms Quinn's murderer lived locally and had knowledge of her movements and the local roads.
There were also no reported developments in the investigation into the murder of Mr Patrick Daly, the farmer whose body was found in a well at his home in Kilcummin, Co Kerry last week. Gardai are understood to believe that Mr Daly's killer, or killers, also lived locally.
Since last Friday, gardai from the Emergency Response Unit (ERU), the highly trained unit which specialises in VIP protection and anti hijacking operations, have been placed on vehicle checkpoints around Ballinasloe, Co Galway.
An Air Corps helicopter has also been directed to support the Garda in Galway in what is now officially termed "Operation Shannon". Senior Garda sources indicated that the point of the operation was as much to reassure the public, frightened by the recent murders, as to try to deter gangs of robbers.