A man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Annie McCarrick, the 26-year-old American woman who went missing more than 32 years ago.
The man, who is 62, was detained in Dublin by detectives from Irishtown after being arrested at his home in Co Meath this morning.
The businessman is being held at a Dublin garda station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act and can be questioned for up to 24 hours.
Gardaí say the man knew Ms McCarrick in the 1990s and described him as an associate who moved in her circle.
His period of detention was extended by a Superintendent for a second six hours of questioning this afternoon.
Gardaí are also searching a house and garden in Monastery Walk in Clondalkin in west Dublin as part of the investigation.
Heavy equipment including a digger, a consaw, power tools and a skip have been brought in and forensic specialists are examining parts of the house and garden, which is over 30m long.
The search is expected to last a number of days.
The home has been sealed off and a temporary restricted airspace has been put in place.
The current residents are not connected in any way with Ms McCarrick or her disappearance.
Originally from New York, Annie McCarrick visited Ireland on a school trip as a teenager.
Her parents said that she had fallen in love with the country and its way of life.
In the late 1980s, she completed her third-level studies at St Patrick's College in Drumcondra and St Patrick's College in Maynooth before returning to New York to study at Stony Brook University.
She moved to Ireland permanently in January 1993 and lived at St Cathryn's Court in Sandymount in Dublin with two other tenants.
She worked as a waitress at the Courtyard Restaurant in Donnybrook and Café Java on Leeson Street.
On 26 March 1993, Ms McCarrick spoke to both of her flatmates before they left separately to travel home for the weekend.
She had invited friends to the apartment for dinner the following day and was making plans for her mother to visit the next week.
Ms McCarrick had bought groceries on the morning of 26 March in Quinnsworth on Sandymount Road - confirmed by a receipt found in unpacked shopping bags in her apartment.
Gardaí said the receipt showed the date and time of her purchases as 26 March at 11.02am.
This is the last confirmed activity of Ms McCarrick.
She was reported missing by a friend two days later on 28 March 1993.
Her family later told gardaí that they believed Ms McCarrick had been having trouble with a man who struck her before she disappeared.
The case was initially treated as a missing persons inquiry but two years ago it was reclassified to a murder investigation.
The probe is being led by the Dublin South Central Serious Crime Unit supported by the National Serious Crime Review Team.
This is the first arrest in the case.
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A Temporary Restricted Airspace (TRA) has been put in place by the Irish Aviation Authority in Clondalkin, banning drones and aircraft from the search area.
Gardaí are keeping Ms McCarrick's family updated in relation to the investigation.
They are urging anyone with information, no matter how small or insignificant they might believe it to be, to contact the investigation team.
Officers are also appealing to anyone who may have previously come forward but felt they could not provide gardaí with all of the relevant information they had to make contact again.
The investigation team at Irishtown Garda Station can be contacted on 01 6669600 or information can be provided via the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.
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