Paul Quinn: Police uncover illegal waste while searching for evidence in murder case

A digger arrives at the farm where gardaí have launched a major security operation

Gardaí (Irish police) investigating the murder of County Armagh man, Paul Quinn, have unearthed a large quantity of illegal waste.

The 21-year-old, who was beaten to death, was found in a barn in Oram, County Monaghan, in October 2007.

Searches of a farm near Castleblayney, on the border between Armagh and Monaghan, began on Thursday at about 09:00 local time.

A man in his 50s, who was arrested that morning, remains in custody.

The BBC understands that specialist ground radar equipment was used to search the area and showed up a large amount of buried items, initially thought to include a van used by the gang who killed Mr Quinn.

A digger was brought in to excavate the items, which were found to be illegal waste, including large household objects.

Gardaí will now sift through the waste to see if it contains anything which could help them with their investigation.

Searches of the area are continuing.

Paul Quinn was 21 when he was murdered