Gardaí have arrested four men in the Midlands Prison on suspicion they were involved in a pre-planned attack in the jail last weekend that may be linked to the fatal firebombing of a family home in Edenderry, Co Offaly hours later.
The house, in the Castleview estate in the town, was firebombed just before 8pm on Saturday.
The fire took the lives of four-year-old Tadgh Farrell and his grand-aunt Mary Holt (60). The dead boy’s grandmother, Pauline Holt, managed to escape the flames but was critically injured after sustaining burns.
Gardaí now suspect a man previously linked to the property, on Castleview Park, had earlier on Saturday instigated a group attack on a drug-dealing rival in the Midlands Prison.
Detectives are trying to determine if the firebombing in Edenderry was carried out in retaliation for the prison attack, though other lines of inquiry are also being explored.
On Friday morning gardaí investigating the fatal fire carried out searches at three properties in Offaly and Kildare.
While no arrests were made during the searches, a number of items were taken away for examination. Further searches and the first arrest in the case are now anticipated.
Gardaí investigating the attack on the prisoner in the Midlands Prison, Portlaoise, Co Laois, arrested four prisoners in the jail on Friday.
The suspects are all in their 20s and 30s. The arrests were carried out by gardaí from the Serious Crime Unit based in the Laois-Offaly Garda division.
“All four males are being detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 at Garda stations in the Garda Eastern Region,” a Garda statement said.
The two Garda operations on Friday arise from separate investigations into two distinct crimes: the group assault on the prisoner in the Midlands Prison last Saturday and the firebombing of the Holt family home in Edenderry that night.
Gardaí in Tullamore investigating the fatal fire have strong suspicions the two crimes are linked.
Developments in the investigations emerged as hundreds of mourners paid their respects at the funeral of Tadhg Farrell.
Garda headquarters said the three searches in Kildare and Offaly before dawn on Friday were at domestic residences.
The operation was carried out by gardaí from the Serious Crime Unit, Laois-Offaly Garda division, supported by Special Tactics and Operations Command, Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and units from the Laois-Offaly and Kildare-Carlow Garda divisions.
Earlier in the week, gardaí released footage of the house in Edenderry being firebombed in the hope it would encourage people with information to come forward, especially as the attack is so emotive having resulted in the death of a four-year-old boy.
“While this was a reckless, callous and murderous attack on a family home, An Garda Síochána continues to keep an open mind as to the reasons and motives for this attack,” said Chief Supt Anthony Lonergan while releasing the CCTV footage.
“I want to reassure the community here in Edenderry and throughout Laois-Offaly division that … An Garda Síochána is determined, and will identify all those responsible for the deaths of Tadhg and Mary and bring them before the courts.
“I appeal directly to any person with any information on this violent fatal incident to speak with investigating gardaí.”