Yesterday’s release of a man arrested over the disappearance of Jo Jo Dullard was a "setback" to the renewed Garda investigation.
The 55-year-old man on Monday became the first person to be arrested in the case since the Kilkenny woman disappeared almost 30 years ago.
He was released without charge yesterday afternoon.
A search operation is continuing today on a remote piece of Wicklow land not far from the Kildare border.
The search area is around 15 minutes from the 21-year-old’s last known location in Moone, County Kildare.
On The Pat Kenny Show, Irish Times journalist Conor Lally described the latest update in the case as a "setback" for Gardaí.
Photo: Eamonn Farrell/© RollingNews.ieMr Lally said new information or evidence will be needed in order to carry out any further arrests.
You can't just re-arrest the same person and put the same evidence that you have to him - you have to have new information,” he said.
"Trying to get new information in a case that's 29 years-old, that's going to be a big ask."
Mr Lally said another detail in the Garda statement that stood out yesterday was the lack of reference to a file being prepared for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The journalist said Gardaí prepare this file when a case is "nearing conclusion".
"They’d be sending their findings off to the DPP for that office to rule on whether the evidence is there, if it's strong enough to actually bring a charge in the case," Mr Lally said.
"There was no mention at all of the DPP office in sending a file on."
Excavation
He said that this "omission" indicates that the Gardaí are "a long way off" from being in a position to send a file on the case.
An open-ground excavation on land in the Wicklow/Kildare border is ongoing, and Mr Lally said the Gardaí may be searching for Ms Dullard's personal items to determine if she was in the area prior to her disappearance.
Image by Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie"It would be very hard to find an item of clothing that would be intact after such a long time out in the open, but you might find shoes or boots," Mr Lally said.
"Really, they’re scouring that area just for any evidence at all, any item however small that they could link to Jo Jo.
"That would at least lead to evidence that they’re in the right general area for their searching."
Mr Lally said, however, that he does not think the Gardaí are at that stage yet.
Ms Dullard's disappearance
Ms Dullard had been in Dublin but missed the bus to Kilkenny and decided she would try and get home regardless.
She bought a bus ticket to Naas and then managed to grab a lift from someone.
In Moone, she stopped off to make a call to a friend and updated them on her situation.
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Feature image by Alamy.
