A man in his mid-twenties has been arrested in Portlaoise in relation to the murder of Aoife Phelan.
He was arrested this afternoon and is being held at Portlaoise Garda station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984. It is understood that he was known to Ms Phelan.
A live-in nanny, Ms Phelan (30), from Cashel, Ballyroan, Co Laois, has not been seen since she left a friend's house in Colliers View, Portlaoise at 8.10pm on Thursday, October 25th.
Ms Phelan's family, who say she is four months pregnant, described her disappearance as totally out of character.
They were alerted on Friday morning by Ms Phelan's employers who became concerned when she did not return to her place of work at The Hermitage, Portlaoise, on Thursday night.
Gardaí in Portlaoise have been conducting door-to-door inquiries, checking closed-circuit television footage and examining telephone records in their search for Ms Phelan.