Gardai have confirmed they received several pieces of new information over the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier after their appeal before Christmas.
However, it is not sufficient to make a breakthrough in the 26-year case and it could take at least another year before someone is charged with the murder.
A senior Garda source said: “We are making progress slowly but surely.
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“We received a lot of new information which is extremely helpful and is now being checked out.
“Nevertheless we have still not made a breakthrough as such but we are getting there.
“We are effectively running two investigations side by side – the original murder probe plus the cold case review of her murder.
“No stone is being left unturned and every new lead is being probed.
“Some members of the public have contacted us with new information while others who made statements before have remembered important things that they forgot to mention.
“The public appeal has certainly refreshed people’s memories in the West Cork area and been extremely helpful.”
Interpol will assist gardai in interviewing people in France and the UK.
The man who was originally identified as then main suspect Ian Bailey has not been contacted by detectives.
He has always denied knowing Sophie or having any involvement in her brutal death and claims answers lie in France.
Bailey was recently attacked and assaulted on the street in Bantry and made a formal complaint to the Garda.
The probe is being run from Bantry Garda station but officers have been all over the country interviewing witnesses who made statements at the time.
Sophie, 39, was murdered just before Christmas in 1996 and the killer battered her up to 50 times with a rock.
Her body was found on a lane 100 yards from her hideaway holiday home outside Schull, West Cork.
The murder became an embarrassment for the Government after two high-profile films by Sky and Netflix.
Award-winning director Jim Sheridan is now set to make a new 90-minute updated film on the murder inquiry.
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