Six people arrested over fatal fire in Clonmel

Gardaí in Co Tipperary have arrested six people following the death of a woman in a house fire in Clonmel on Friday morning.

Early yesterday, local detectives and members of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation carried out searches of a number of houses in the Clonmel area. They arrested "four men and two women aged between their late 20s and early 30s".

They have been detained under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act at Clonmel, Cahir and Tipperary Town Garda stations.

Meanwhile, the funeral of Anne Marie O'Neill will take place today. She died after her house on the Elm Park estate was destroyed by the fire following suspected arson attacks in the town early on Friday. She will be buried in her native village of Drangan, Co Tipperary.

Her husband, Pat, who sustained an ankle injury when he escaped from the house by jumping from an upstairs window, has been discharged from South Tipperary General Hospital, Clonmel.

Supt Chris Delaney, who is leading the Garda investigation, thanked the public in Clonmel who had responded to a Garda appeal for information about the fires. He asked that anyone with further information should come forward.

Gardaí and emergency services in Clonmel were called out to at least four fires that morning which are believed to have been started maliciously. While responding to the call about the O'Neill fire, they chanced upon another house on fire and rescued the occupant.

The chairman of the Elm Park Residents' Association, Labour councillor Darren Ryan, has criticised anti-social behaviour on the estate where there have been previous "wheelie-bin" fires.

Gardaí declined to speculate on how the fire at the O'Neill house started, saying their investigation was ongoing.