Gardaí investigating the disappearance of a number of women have requested permission to interview a convicted murderer serving a life sentence in Northern Ireland.
Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy confirmed yesterday that they are investigating links between Robert Howard (61) and the women's disappearance. "We are looking at all areas now to ensure that we actually rule him out or rule him in," said Mr Conroy. "We have a number of crimes that cannot be detected and we look at all matters from time to time in an effort to solve those crimes, we are looking at a number of things. He will come in to the equation and he has come in to the equation before."
Mr Howard of Wolfhill, Co Laois, was sentenced to life imprisonment in October 2003 for the murder of English schoolgirl Hannah Williams. He was previously jailed for 10 years in 1974 for raping a woman after breaking into her Co Cork home.
It is understood gardaí want to question him about his movements in the 1980s and 1990s. Howard travelled extensively between Ireland and the UK after leaving Mountjoy Prison in 1981, living in Monaghan, Letterkenny and Wexford.
While in Dublin, he lived in Ranelagh, Coolock and Clondalkin at different times.
He was a chief suspect in the disappearance of Co Tyrone teenager Arlene Arkinson (15) in 1994 but was found not guilty of her murder in Northern Ireland in September.