Gardaí in Limerick were last night questioning two teenagers in connection with an arson attack in the city on Sunday which has left two children critically ill.
The two 17 year olds were arrested by gardaí just after 8pm in Limerick city.
They were taken to Mayorstone Garda station, where they were being questioned under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. They can be held for up to 72 hours without charge.
Meanwhile, the parents of the two children maintained a bedside vigil at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin, yesterday.
Millie (6) and Gavin (4) Murray remained in a critical condition last night after receiving treatment for their severe burns yesterday.
Niall McNamara was at his daughter Millie's bedside when she awoke briefly in the Dublin hospital yesterday.
"She turned around and said: 'Dada, Dada, Dada'. And I said: 'what's up love?' She said: 'I love Celine, I love Niall, I love Nicola.' She named out all the kids. 'I love you Dad and I love Mam.' Then she said: 'I seen them throwing something white into the car.'"
The children were in their mother's car when it erupted in flames near their home in Moyross. They were transferred from Limerick regional hospital to Crumlin on Monday evening.
Mr McNamara said the children could be in hospital for a year because of the severity of their injuries.
He said Gavin's injuries were the worst, but Millie also had severe burns. His son had lost 7½ pints of fluid while his daughter had lost three pints.
"Trying to build back the fluid is the hardest part. Every couple of hours is critical for them.
"I said to them [the doctors] is it a 50/50 chance for him? They turned around and said he has so much burns, he's on so much morphine that they don't know really. I could go in there in an hour's time and they could tell me he's dead."
Mr McNamara was told Millie would have to have several operations. "They'll need an awful lot of skin grafts. Their whole bodies need skin grafts. From their forehead to their toes is burnt."
Mr McNamara said the couple's other six children, aged from 16 months to 17 years, were at home in Limerick with their grandmother. "But my mother is 72 years of age, you know what I mean?" He repeated his view that he knew who had carried out the attack.
Senior Garda sources in the city are satisfied with progress in the investigation.
Officers said youths in the Moyross estate had recently begun using petrol bombs in the course of anti-social behaviour.
They said a Garda patrol car had three petrol bombs thrown at it over the weekend while investigating a report of a stolen car. Two houses had also been slightly damaged.
However, they insisted the area had been calm on Monday night, and that calls by Fine Gael for 100 extra gardaí to be brought in were premature.
Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea said he had spoken to gardaí yesterday about the weekend incident. He said more gardaí were available to senior officers if they were needed.
"My preliminary discussion with the police seemed to indicate that, with the new resources that are coming anyway to Limerick, they would have sufficient resources to get on top of this particular problem."
Michael Lyons, the chief executive of Our Lady's hospital, said Ms Murray had requested that the family's privacy be respected "and the hospital will adhere to their wishes".