Gardaí make new appeal 30 years after Portlaoise woman's murder

Gardaí have issued a new appeal for a woman who was killed three decades ago this week in Laois.

Garda HQ in Dublin have issued an appeal for public information as part of their investigation into the murder of Marie Kilmartin who was aged 35 at the time of her death.

Saturday, December 16 2023 will be 30 years to the day since Marie disappeared.  Gardaí say she went missing on the same date in 1993, after she was last seen at her home in Beladd on the Stradbally Road in Portlaoise at about 4pm.

The body of the woman, who hailed from Ballinasloe in Co Galway, was discovered on June 10 1994 in a bog in the Portarlington area on the Laois Offaly border.

The deceased was fully clothed with strangulation the cause of death. A concrete block had been placed on her chest to weigh her body down in a boggy drain.

"An Garda Síochána is continuing to appeal to anyone who may have information with regards to this case to come forward to them. With the passage of time some person may now be in a position to provide information to investigating Gardaí that they could not provide at the time, or maybe some person who did provide information at the time may be now in a position to provide further information," said the statement.

Three arrests have been made in the Portlaoise area as part of this investigation, but to date, no one has been charged. The Gardaí say they continue to liaise closely with the Marie's family. The guards also thank the public who have been of assistance in this investigation to date.

It's nearly 20 years since the murdered woman's daughter Áine began a lone campaign to find justice for her mother. She distributed leaflets in Portlaoise and started a website. She was critical at the time of the handling of unsolved cases in Leinster of murdered women.

"I do not think it is respectful to the people who have been murdered, especially the women in Leinster whose bodies have never been found, that their files are just taken out every now and then. There are so many families out there whose daughters have never been found," she told the Irish Times.

A statement issued on December 15 said the Gardaí will treat any interactions with confidentiality, compassion, and sensitivity.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the incident room at Portlaoise Garda Station on 057 8674100, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.