INVESTIGATIONS ARE CONTINUING into the violent deaths of four people in Newcastle West.

A 31-year-old former horticulturalist was arrested in the Central Bar pub in the West Clare town of Kilkee at 4.45pm yesterday in connection with the deaths, after a phone call was made to a retired garda.

The victims have been named in this morning’s papers as 5-month-old Amy and her three year old brother Reece, their 25-year-old mother Sarah Hines, and her friend Alicia Brough (20).

They are understood to have been stabbed, and gardaí believe they may have been dead for up to 36 hours before they were discovered.

The tragedy unfolded when a phone call was made to a retired garda at 1.20pm from a phone box in Kilkee.

Gardaí arrived at Sarah Hines’ home in Hazelgrove at 1.45pm. It is reported that the bodies of the children were found in a bed upstairs, while the two women were downstairs.

Sarah Hines’s stepfather describes her to this morning’s Irish Daily Star as “a beautiful, bubbly young girl who didn’t have a bad bone in her body.”

He remembered how her oldest child, Reece, had “an amazing lust for life”, while baby Amy, who was born at home just five months ago, was “a little angel, a smashing little girl.”

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Chief Superintendent Dave Sheahan described the murders as “very traumatic” for the whole community.

Our investigation started straight away and within two and a half hours we were satisfied that the person we were looking for in respect of this investigation was arrested by gardaí in the Clare division.

Chief Supt Sheahan appealed for anyone who had any information about activities around the house in Newcastle West in the last 24 or 36 hours to contact gardaí at Newcastle West on 069-20650, or the Garda confidential line on 1800-666 111.

If you have been affected by this report and would like to talk to someone in confidence, you can contact the Samaritans at 1850 60 90 90>