A man arrested in connection to the death of Michael Gaine remains in Garda custody. 

The Kerry farmer was last seen on 21st March last year. His disappearance triggered a search across his sprawling farm near Kenmare but for weeks no clue about his whereabouts was found. 

It was only in May, two months after he went missing, that partial human remains were found on his farm. 

Emergency personnel close to the farm of Michael "Mike" Gaine near Kenmare in May 2025. Picture by: Alamy.com.

Yesterday morning, a man in his 50s was arrested under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act and taken to a Garda station in Kerry for questioning. 

He can be questioned for up to 24 hours by Gardaí, excluding breaks. After that period elapses, they have to decide whether to charge him or release him. 

 On Newstalk Breakfast, Kerry Today presenter Jerry O’Sullivan described it as a “surprising development”. 

“The case had gone kind of quiet, I suppose is the way to term it, over the last couple of months,” he explained. 

“No major developments; the Gardaí had continued to insist that this is a live investigation. They put huge resources behind it.

“They've been reviewing hundreds of statements and looking at hours of CCTV footage and putting a lot of work into it.” 

Michael Gaines. Image: Garda Press Office.

Initially, Mr Gaine’s disappearance was treated as a missing person case and a large number of people helped with the search for him on his farm. 

Since then, the Garda probe into Mr Gaine’s death has been upgraded to a homicide investigation and there are fears that the initial search might have compromised evidence. 

“This was raised by Fianna Fáil TD, Michael Cahill, who raised it in the Oireachtas Justice Committee, a number of months back, when the former Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, was talking about different investigations,” Mr O’Sullivan continued. 

“He asked them questions about the nature, the circumstances of what had happened in the initial days and the initial couple of months in the search for Mike Gaine and there's an internal review being carried out.” 

Gardaí at Mr Gaine's farm. Picture by: Alamy.com.

Mr Gaine’s funeral in June last year was attended by hundreds of people from Kenmare and beyond. 

Mourners heard that he was ‘soft, loving, caring, affectionate, kind and considerate’. 

A desire for answers is widespread in the town. 

“People in Kenmare have been horrified by this and deeply disturbed,” Mr O’Sullivan said. 

“A lot of people are missing their friend and loved one Mike Gaine from the community. 

“And what they want is they want the investigation to progress as quickly as possible and for some answers to be found.”

Main image: Last known photo of Michael Gaine. Picture by: An Garda Síochána.