The husband of murdered Dublin woman Ms Rachel O'Reilly last night told The Irish Times he was pleased gardaí investigating his wife's murder had arrested two people. Conor Lally reports.
"I'm happy there have been arrests alright, but I have no further comment to make," Mr Joe O'Reilly said.
Gardaí at Balbriggan and Drogheda were last night continuing to question a man and woman in connection with the murder of the 30-year-old mother-of-two at her home near Naul village in north Co Dublin on October 4th.
A 44-year-old man, who is a former member of the Defence Forces, was arrested in the Ballyfermot area yesterday morning at around 10 a.m. and taken for questioning to Balbriggan Garda station.
At the same time a 36-year-old woman was arrested in Dundrum. She was taken to Drogheda Garda station for questioning.
Neither of the two people arrested is the chief suspect in the case. However, both individuals are known to the person who gardaí have identified as the chief suspect. Garda sources said both were being questioned on suspicion of withholding information when they were interviewed by detectives in recent weeks.
The two arrested people were still being detained last night under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. Under the provisions of the legislation, they can be held for questioning without charge for a total of 72 hours.
After the first 24-hour period, detectives questioning the pair can detain them for a further 24 hours with the permission of three superintendents. When that period expires gardaí can apply to the courts for a further 24-hour period. When the third period of detention ends, both have to be charged with an offence or released.
Yesterday's arrests were the first in the case, and come after an intensive six-week period of evidence gathering by detectives since Ms O'Reilly's body was discovered in the bedroom of her house at Baldarragh, close to Naul village.
Ms O'Reilly was found at the house by her mother, Ms Rose Callely, who went to her daughter's home after Ms O'Reilly failed to collect one of her two children from creche.
A post-mortem examination indicated that she had received several blows to the head with a blunt instrument.
There were no signs of a struggle between Ms O'Reilly and her attacker, and while the house had been disturbed, indicating a possible break-in, the dead woman's family have said they believe this may have been staged and that Ms O'Reilly was probably killed by somebody known to her. Money in the dead woman's purse was untouched.
Following the killing, Ms O'Reilly's husband said towels were missing from the house, which he believed may have been used by the attacker to clean away blood.
He said he feared the killer may strike again if he was not caught.