Gardaí investigating the arson attack in Co Waterford that claimed four lives have carried out a number of searches of properties including some with possible links to the local drugs trade.
Investigators are considering the possibility that more than one person could have participated in the attack. The force is searching for “person or persons unknown”.
Gardaí have identified a number of suspects in the investigation.
The murders of Philip and Kim English and two of their sons Callum (12) and Jayden (8) are linked to a pattern of violent intimidation by a local drugs gang, gardaí believe.
The family had approached local representatives in recent weeks in the hopes of securing a council transfer to another home as they felt unsafe.
The family’s home, on the Birchwood estate, just south of Waterford city, had been attacked before, most recently last month, when a petrol bomb was thrown at their car.
In 2023, the same vehicle was vandalised with a bucket of paint but it is unclear whether this was directly linked to the arson attacks in recent weeks.
The latest attack, which happened just after 5am on Tuesday, involved a petrol bomb, which was thrown at the front door causing a fire that spread through the two-storey semidetached house.
In addition to the two adults and two children who died, two other children suffered critical injuries.
They were initially taken to University Hospital Waterford but were moved to Crumlin children’s hospital in Dublin on Tuesday. They remained in critical condition on Wednesday morning.
Though the investigation is at an early stage, gardaí suspect Philip English had taken on a drug debt incurred by an associate in an effort to keep the associate safe.
However, gardaí strongly suspect the local crime gang that was owed money targeted the family on Tuesday morning, and was also behind last month’s attack.