A €10,000 reward is being offered for information to help a Garda inquiry into the murder of Offaly publican Matt Farrell earlier this year.
Mr Farrell was found tied to a chair in the downstairs area of his pub, The Gaelic Bar, in Daingean, by his son Matthew at about 7.30am on April 1st.
Some 1,200 people have been interviewed and the 40 gardaí working in the case have taken more than 700 statements.
Gardaí yesterday distributed leaflets and put up posters in Daingean and other towns in the midlands appealing for information.
A Crimestoppers spokesperson said it was confident that someone had information which could help gardaí solve the crime.
“If anyone has any information, they can call Crimestoppers free on 1800 250 025 in the strictest of confidence,’’ the spokesperson added. “You don’t need to leave your name or your address.
“You may receive a cash reward for information given that leads to an arrest.’’
Six people have been arrested and questioned, but no charges have been brought against anyone.
Gardaí upgraded their investigation into the death of Mr Farrell (64) to a murder inquiry after a postmortem showed that he had died of head injuries.
The postmortem, carried out by State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy found that he had been beaten about the head.
A widower, Mr Farrell had four children and a number of grandchildren and siblings, all living in the midlands.
Initially, it was thought that he might have suffered a heart attack during or after his ordeal.
He had been sleeping on a couch downstairs as he suffered from arthritis, and was a large man who had difficulty climbing the stairs.
The pub had been burgled three times in the past decade.
Mr Farrell’s funeral Mass was attended by nearly 1,000 mourners at the Church of Mary, the Mother of God in Daingean.
In his homily, Fr Paddy O’Byrne said the news of Mr Farrell’s death had been a source of “shock, disappointment and sorrow’’ for local people.
“People found it hard to accept it. We hear about these things. We read about them in other places, but we always feel they would never appear at our own doorstep,’’ he said.
