A man in his 20s has appeared in court in relation to a fire that resulted in the deaths of a boy and his great-aunt in Co Offaly last December.
Michael Dunne (22), with an address in Co Kildare, was charged with two offences at a special sitting of Tullamore District Court on Friday evening.
He is accused of criminal damage and endangerment arising out of the fire which led to the deaths of 60-year-old Mary Holt and four-year-old Tadhg Farrell at a house in Castleview Park in Edenderry on December 6th.
Judge Andrew Cody granted reporting restrictions around the disclosure of Dunne’s full address.
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Det Garda Tom Dunne, of Tullamore Garda station, told the court he had charged Dunne with the two offences at 1.08pm on Friday.
He said the accused man made no reply to the first charge of criminal damage by arson. When told of the charge of endangerment, he said Dunne replied: “I am sorry.”
During the short hearing, the accused’s barrister, Doireann McDonagh, asked that anonymity be granted to the defendant’s legal team due to what she described as a “contentious and dangerous local feud”.
The judge denied the request and said he had not come across an application like that before.
There was no application for bail. Dunne was remanded in custody to appear before the same court by videolink next Wednesday.
Earlier this week, gardaí arrested four people in relation to the suspected arson attack. One man in his 30s, another in his 20s and a teenager remain in Garda custody. They are being detained at Garda stations in the midlands under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007.
