A 31-YEAR-OLD man is due to appear before a special court sitting today charged with the murders of two women and two young children in Co Limerick earlier this week.
The man was charged at Henry Street Garda station in Limerick city last night. He is due to appear before a special sitting of Newcastle West District Court in Co Limerick at 1pm today.
The man was arrested in west Clare last Tuesday after the bodies of Sarah Hines (25), her three-year-old son Reece, five-month-old daughter Amy and her friend Alicia Brough (20), were found at a house in the Hazelgrove Estate in Newcastle West.
Postmortem results confirmed that all four victims were stabbed to death.
Preparations are under way for the funerals of the four victims. The bodies were released to their families yesterday.
Technical examinations of the scene continued yesterday and an item found in the house - believed to be the murder weapon - was sent for forensic testing.
Arrangements for the funerals of the murdered women and children were being finalised in Co Cork and Co Limerick yesterday.
Originally from Cheadle, Staffordshire, in England, Ms Brough's funeral Mass will take place in Co Cork, where her family moved to six years ago.
Her removal will take place at 7.30pm tomorrow from Allen's funeral home in Rockchapel to St Peter's Church. Funeral Mass will take place at 2pm on Monday followed by a private cremation ceremony. Ms Brough is survived by her parents Paul and Maria Dempsey, and siblings Josiah (15), Isaac (13), Jacob (9), Eoghan (5) and Hannah (3).
The funeral arrangements for Ms Hines and her two children are due to be announced today. Ms Hines is survived by her mother Abina, stepfather Peter Rolfe and her seven brothers, Chris (23), Damian (22), Jesse (20), Josh (14), Lewis (12), Ben (11) and Adam (7).