Man questioned over boy's death

Gardaí in Dublin last night released a 45-year-old man who was arrested yesterday as part of a renewed investigation into the…

Gardaí in Dublin last night released a 45-year-old man who was arrested yesterday as part of a renewed investigation into the death of a boy in a fire in a makeshift den five years ago.

A file will be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, a Garda spokesman said.

The man, who was being held at Blanchardstown Garda station, was arrested yesterday morning under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act in relation to the death of 12-year-old Stephen Hughes Connors.

The investigation into Stephen's death was reopened last November by the Garda's cold cases unit. Since then, more than 300 people have been reinterviewed and house-to-house inquiries have been conducted.

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The boy from Rossfield Park in Tallaght, who was a fifth-class student at St Thomas National School in Jobstown, had been sleeping over with a friend in a makeshift hut when the hut caught fire about 5.20am on September 1st, 2001.

While his friend managed to escape the blaze, Stephen died from smoke inhalation after flames engulfed the small hut.

CCTV footage obtained by gardaí at the time shows a man approaching the entrance to the hut and leaving some nine minutes later, shortly before a small explosion was heard at the scene.

Since then, the Hughes Connors family have repeatedly called for a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances of the fire and issued numerous appeals for information. Hundreds of leaflets were distributed in the Tallaght area and a cash reward of more than €5,000 was offered by Crimestoppers in an attempt to gather information on the apparent arson attack.

Last June, the family asked the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, and the Garda Commissioner, Noel Conroy, to take the Tallaght Garda division off the case, amid claims that detectives at the division failed to gather vital evidence in the case.

Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte has previously called for an independent inquiry into the fire and raised the issue with the Minister for Justice and gardaí in Tallaght.