A 19 year old man was arrested yesterday in Co Clare and is being questioned by gardai in Galway about the murder of retired farmer Mr Tom Casey (68).
The man was arrested at 9.30 a.m. in the Ennistymon area and brought to Mill Street station where he was detained last night under Section 30 of the offences against the State Act.
A Garda spokesman in Galway said the man, understood to be a member of the travelling community, was being questioned about the killing of Mr Casey at his home in Oranmore where he was beaten and tied up in his kitchen 10 days ago.
He was also being questioned about an arms offence in the same area and other serious crimes, including raids on the elderly.
Meanwhile, a 16 year old girl from Dublin arrested on Monday and questioned in relation to the murder was released at midday while a 21 year old man arrested early on Monday was released late on Tuesday after being questioned about the killing. He was immediately rearrested and appeared at Galway District Court on an unrelated theft charge.
Gardai are understood to be working through a list of suspects bin up to six gangs suspected of involvement in raids on the elderly, confident that this will lead to those responsible for Mr Casey's killing.
Meanwhile, the garda leading the investigation into the murder of Ms Marilyn Rynn said yesterday he was reasonably confident gardai will find her killer, although there was still a lot of work to do. Newly appointed Asst Commissioner Jim McHugh added: "We have some interesting people to eliminate from our inquiries".
Investigating detectives are encaged in a "culling" process, Mr McHugh said, as they follow a definite line of inquiry into the sort of person likely to have killed Ms Rynn. Her body was found bear her Blanchardstown home 16 days after she was last seen alive on December 22nd.
Meanwhile, gardai in Killarney said they would like to speak to anyone who sawn a white Ford Escort van owned by murdered farmer Mr Paddy Daly (69) in the week prior to January 20th. The registration number is 90 D 34630.
Supt Michael O'Neill said gardai had received very good cooperation from the public. "However, I feel there are still people out there who could assist. They can call in confidence at 064-31222 or 1-800-666111," he said.
No progress has been reported in the search for Ms Josephine Dollard, the Kilkenny woman who has now been missing since November 10th.
Gardai found no evidence of a struggle on a stretch of the Kilkenny Castlecomer road where a woman reported seeing a female being beaten by two men.