The PSNI has made three further arrests in connection with the murder of Armagh man Paul Quinn.
The three men, two aged in their 30s and one in his 40s, were arrested in south Armagh this morning in what detectives said was the second phase of an operation in support of the ongoing investigation by An Garda Síochána.
The men, who are from Forkhill and Crossmaglen, are being questioned by PSNI detectives in Antrim.
Nine men have been arrested in total in the last two days in connection the 21-year-old’s murder.
Mr Quinn, from Cullyhanna, was beaten to death in an isolated Co Monaghan barn last October.
Earlier today the PSNI released two other men in their 50s who had been detained on Tuesday. One other man – in his 20s – who was also arrested on Tuesday remains in custody in Antrim.
Three other men arrested by gardaí on Tuesday had their periods of detention extended last night.
The three men held by gardaí – aged in their 20s and 30s – are being detained at Garda stations in Monaghan and in Carrickmacross under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.
A special sitting of Carrickmacross District Court last night granted gardaí another 24 hours to question the men.
An inquest opened briefly in Dundalk last month to issue a death certificate to his family.
It was adjourned because of the ongoing investigation. Dr Michael Curtis, the Republic’s deputy state pathologist, compiled an 18-page report. Mr Quinn died from multiple injuries due to blunt force trauma.