Three arrested in Portlaoise murder probe
William Delaney was reported missing in 2019
THREE people have been arrested in relation to the murder of a Portlaoise man, who disappeared without trace nearly seven years ago.
Two women and one man were arrested today and detained for questioning, in connection with the sinister unsolved murder of William Delaney in 2019.
Gardaí confirmed at lunchtime that a man aged in his 30s, a woman in her 50s and another woman in her 30s were arrested. They are currently being detained at garda stations in the midland and south western regions.
A Tipperary native who was living in Fieldbrook, Portlaoise, Mr Delaney was reported missing in March 2019 and the case was upgraded to murder three months later.
He left Portlaoise hospital, where he had been a patient, on 30 January 2019 and collected a social welfare payment at the town’s post office. He was last seen at 3pm that day outside a property opposite the Hazel Hotel in Monasterevin, having called to see a relative who was not in that afternoon.
The 56-year-old, who has a large family in Portlaoise, was reported missing that March and the case was upgraded to murder in June, after gardaí received disturbing information that he had been killed and his body buried near the Rock of Dunamase.
A comprehensive search was carried out but no remains were found. Although a number of arrests were made at the time, nobody was charged.
An appeal for information was launched by gardaí and Crimestoppers on 26 April 2021, which would have been Mr Delaney’s 59th birthday. It failed to yield any worthwhile information.
At the time, gardaí said: ‘Gardaí are appealing to the community and would like to thank them for their assistance so far. However, gardaí believe that people in the community have information and have not yet come forward.’
A further unsuccessful search was carried out in August 2023 at bogland in Kyletalesha, off the N80 Portlaoise to Mountmellick Road, near the Laois Co Council landfill site.
In a statement issued at 1.30pm today, gardaí said the three people were arrested under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 and investigations are ongoing.
