POSTMORTEMS ON the bodies of Mark and Julie Flood, the children who died in Clonroche in Co Wexford during the early hours of Saturday, have found they did not die as a direct result of the fire which engulfed their family home.
Gardaí last night said that Mark (6) and Julie (5) had injuries consistent with a fire but that it was not the direct cause of their death. The cause of the children's death is not yet known.
The postmortems found no evidence of physical trauma to the children and gardaí said they were awaiting the results of toxicology tests to help determine the exact cause of death.
The children, along with their parents, were found in their home in Clonroche in the early hours of Saturday.
Postmortems found that their parents, 41-year-old Diarmuid Flood and his wife Lorraine (38), both died as a result of single gunshot wounds.
Mr Flood died of a single gunshot wound to the head, which may or may not have been self-inflicted. Ms Flood (nee Kehoe) died of a single gunshot wound to the chest.
A legally-held firearm which was uncovered at the scene was found to belong to a member of the extended Kehoe family. It had been in the Floods' house for a considerable period of time.
Garda spokesman Supt Kevin O'Donoghue said investigators could not yet determine if the shotgun found in the house was the one which was used to inflict gunshot wounds on Diarmuid and Lorraine Flood.
Early reports suggested that the body of Mark Flood had been discovered on a landing in the house. However, gardaí have established he was in fact found lying on the remnants of a bed in a bedroom, the wall of which had been destroyed by fire.
Ms Flood's body was found in bed in the couple's upstairs bedroom and her husband in one of the reception rooms downstairs. Julie was found in her bed.
Supt O'Donoghue said he could not comment on speculation that the children had been sedated prior to the house being set on fire.
He said he could not comment on anything that was not factually proven and he said information about the children's cause of death would not emerge until the toxicology tests were returned and the postmortem was concluded.
He said establishing the exact times of death was complicated by the presence of the fire.
The superintendent confirmed that both Diarmuid and Mark suffered extensive fire-related injuries. Julie and Lorraine suffered very little injury from the fire.
The crime scene investigation at the family's home is expected to continue for a number of days. Gardaí said they are in the process of bringing in construction experts to examine the house.
Supt O'Donoghue said he had been asked to request that the media refrain from speculating about the incident, as this was contributing to the tremendous hurt and pain that was being experienced by the Flood and Kehoe families.
He requested that gardaí be given time to complete their investigation.
"There is a large amount of this investigation [ that] remains unresolved. When I give information I have to be satisfied that it is accurate and I cannot go into the area of speculation.
"It's a slow process but we need to be able to put together exactly what happened," he said.