Edenderry to hold funeral today of firebomb attack victim four-year-old Tadhg Farrell

Four-year-old Tadhg Farrell (left) will be buried today while the funeral arrangements of his grandaunt Mary Holt (right) have not yet been announced. Picture: Garda Info

The Offaly town of Edenderry will come to a standstill today for the funeral of four-year-old Tadhg Farrell, who died along with his grandaunt in a firebomb attack that shocked the country.

Members of the preschooler’s devastated family will be joined by the local community for the funeral at St Mary’s Church as efforts to bring his killers to justice continue. Nobody has yet been arrested in connection with the killings.

Large crowds turned out on Thursday evening as he lay in repose in a local funeral home.

Mary Holt will in repose between 4pm and 7pm on Saturday at Larkin's funeral home, from where her cortege will leave at 12.20pm on Sunday for her 1pm funeral Mass in St Mary's Church. Her cortege will pause at Ofalia House where she had worked for several years.

Her sister, Tadhg’s grandmother Pauline, was still being treated for serious burn injuries from the firebomb incident at Mary and Pauline’s home in Castleview Park after 7.30pm on Saturday evening. Tadhg was on a sleepover at the house when the incident occurred.

CCTV footage released by gardaí in recent days shows two hooded males attacking before fleeing the scene. It is understood that teenagers are suspected of carrying out the attack, with at least one being a minor.

With the garda investigation centred on a Midlands organised crime gang linked to the drugs trade, it is thought that a prison altercation between two inmates the day prior to the incident could have led to the fatal firebomb attack.

Fianna Fáil TD for Offaly, Tony McCormack, said people in Edenderry are grieving, angry, heartbroken and confused. He said the drug trade is not about “glamour, fast money or status”, adding that it is glamourised on social media and in music and film “as entertainment”.

He has asked the justice minister Jim O’Callaghan to urge the Garda Commissioner, Justin Kelly, to consider establishing a dedicated task force for Edenderry focused on “dismantling drug-driven criminality”, adding that people deserve peace in their homes and on the streets.

An online petition has also been launched to call for a 24-hour garda station for the Offaly town. Mr McCormack has also called for a 24-hour presence in the garda station.

Candles and flowers left outside the house at Castleview Park where four-year-old Tadhg Farrell and his great aunt Mary Holt were killed in a suspected arson attack on Saturday in Edenderry. Photo: Bairbre Holmes/PA

A murder investigation into the deaths was launched on Sunday. It is being led by the Serious Crime Unit Laois/Offaly Garda Division, supported by all necessary resources from Laois/Offaly Garda Division, the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI), the Garda Síochána Analysis Service and other National Units.

The investigation team has carried out over 150 investigative tasks, conducted more than 250 house-to-house enquiries, and retrieved over 60 pieces of CCTV and more than 100 written documents, according to gardaí.

A cordon around the property was lifted on Monday evening, and the house has now been boarded up. On Monday, the Taoiseach Micheal Martin vowed that those responsible for the deaths will be held to account, condemning the attack as “savage, callous and reckless".

Gardaí appealed to anyone who was in the vicinity of Castleview Park or adjoining roads between 7pm and 8pm on Saturday, or who was driving in the area and may have dashcam footage, to contact the incident room at Tullamore garda station on 057 932 7600.