GARDAÍ have issued a fresh appeal over the 1996 murder of a French film producer in west Cork.

Sophie Toscan du Plantier from Paris was 39-years-old when she was found dead in a laneway near her holiday home.

Superintendent Joe Moore of Bantry Garda Station said that those who knew Sophie “deserve to know what happened to their mother, daughter, wife, friend.”

The Garda Serious Crime Review Team had announced last June the case would be fully examined in a scoping review lasting a year.

Supt Moore said he believed that someone still had information that could advance the investigation.

Ms Toscan du Plantier had arrived in Dublin Airport on December 20, 1996, before connecting to Cork airport and landing at 2.30pm.

Hiring a silver Ford Fiesta, she travelled to the Mizen Peninsula and her body was discovered near her home around 10am on December 23.

Supt Moore said he was interested in speaking to anyone who interacted with Ms Toscan du Plantier at both airports up until her body was found.

In particular, gardaí wish to establish her movements between 4.30pm on December 22 and the following morning when her body was found.

"I believe that there are still persons who have information on Sophie's murder and who haven't yet spoken to gardaí - or may have spoken to gardaí but were not in a position to tell everything that they know - I am appealing to those persons, 26 years later, to please come forward and speak to the investigation team," Supt Moore said.