Maddie went missing in 2007.
A house has been raided in Donegal after a large picture of Madeleine McCann alerted Gardaí to the area.
Officers received a tip recently that there was an image of the missing child in the Donegal home, and were left stunned to find it hanging on the wall when they arrived at the scene.
Gardaí have since contacted Interpol to inform them of the discovery they have made.
Checks were later carried out to figure out where the man in this home was when Maddie went missing.
Despite checks being made, officers left happy that there was no connection between the man in Donegal and the missing girl, with a Garda source telling The Irish Mirror that there is no way he could have been in Portugal at that time.
The source said: “It was a full-scale operation as we were fearful the man would destroy any potential evidence we were trying to gather before we arrested him.
“However, nobody was prepared for the picture of Maddie McCann in the house. It was very unusual to say the least considering the circumstances.
“We had to make all the relevant checks but are satisfied that this man had nothing to do with that particular case.”
It has since been established that a genuine reason for the photo being in this home was given by another person in the house.
Gardaí also removed a number of other items after the raid including a laptop. The man has appeared in court over the incident.
The then three-year-old went missing on May 3, 2007 while on a family holiday with her parents and younger siblings in Praia da Luz, a resort in the Algarve.
