Members of the Garda Technical Bureau today examined for a fifth day the scene of a fire where a mother and her two daughters were found dead near the village of Windgap on the Kilkenny-Tipperary border.
The bodies of Sharon Whelan (30) and her daughters Zara (7) and Nadia (2) were found in their remote rented home on Christmas Day.
Gardaí are hopeful the examination of the house and the results of laboratory tests from the postmortem will progress the investigation.
They believe Ms Whelan did not die as a result of the fire that claimed the lives of her two daughters. Postmortem results suggest Ms Whelan (30) was already dead by the time the fire destroyed her home.
They are investigating the possibility that she had been strangled.
Gardaí believe that Ms Whelan's daughters Zara (7) and Nadia (2) died of smoke inhalation.
The bodies of the three victims were released to Ms Whelan's family tonight. They will be buried on New Year's Day.