GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING THE cold case murders of a woman and two children in a house fire in Kildare 30 years ago have arrested a man in his 50s.
Barbara Doyle (20) and her nieces Mary Ellen Byrne (8) and Kerrie Byrne (3) died at a house fire in Kilcock, Kildare that occurred on 20 September 1987.
Gardaí said a man was arrested this afternoon in north county Dublin and is currently detained at Leixlip Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.
Last week, gardaí said they had upgraded their investigation to murder and urged people to contact them if they had any information about the deaths.
Speaking at a press conference in Leixlip last week, Chief Superintendent Gerard Roche said that ‘new evidence’ had led to the case being upgraded to murder.
Roche said that the young girls’ mother, Elizabeth Byrne (who still lives in the house where the fire occurred), was not surprised when she heard that the investigation had been upgraded.
Anyone who has any information regarding this case has been asked to contact the special incident room at Leixlip Garda Station on 01 6667800, or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666111.
With reporting by Cianan Brennan
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