The family of a student who was killed in a hit-and-run incident have alleged that they were told gardai would be called if they did not leave the office of the DPP while they were seeking an appeal over the driver’s sentence.
Joe Drennan was in his final year of a journalism degree at the University of Limerick when he was killed after being struck by a car in October 2023.
The 21-year-old from Co Laois was waiting for a bus near the university at the time.
The driver of the car, now 21-year-old Kieran Fogarty of Ballinacurra Weston in Limerick, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death.
The Dail heard on Tuesday that he was banned from driving at the time. Sinn Fein’s Matt Carthy said the driver had been travelling at more than 120 kilometres per hour.
His sentence is to run concurrently with a separate firearm sentence he had received.
The Drennan family believe this decision means Fogarty will not serve an hour in prison specifically related to the death of the promising journalism student.
It has called for consecutive sentencing as standard in cases of multiple serious offences where there has been a loss of life.
This would likely require a change of legislation which, even if enacted, could not retro-actively apply to Fogarty. However, the family say such a change would benefit the relatives of potential future victims in similar situations.
An alternative course of action pursued by the Drennan family is for the the DPP to appeal against Fogarty’s sentence. Members of the Drennan family went to the DPP offices on Tuesday morning seeking a meeting on the matter.
They allege that, after initially being granted access to the building, they were told that gardai would be called if they did not leave the offices.
Sarah, Kieran, Marguerite and Tim Drennan outside Leinster House (Cillian Sherlock/PA)
Joe’s father Tim told reporters he had travelled to the DPP offices on Tuesday morning to seek a meeting on the matter.
Mr Drennan said a security worker gave him and Joe’s brother Kieran visitor passes to enter into the reception area of the office.
He said: “We went up the reception, told them what we were there for. We were told to leave, that it wasn’t a public area.
“We were there about three or four minutes and they said if we didn’t leave, they would call the guards – so that’s what we’ve got out of the DPP.”
When contacted by the PA news agency, the DPP refused to confirm or deny if the Drennan family had been told that the gardai would be called if they did not leave the offices.
In a statement, it said: “The Office of the DPP does not comment on individual cases and will not be making any comment on this matter.”
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Meanwhile, Joe’s sister Sarah told reporters on Tuesday that her family had suffered injustice in the initial sentencing.
She said: “Joe was the most hard-working boy ever known, he was so talented, working as a journalist in his fourth year of college, like he had so much ahead of him.
“He was so determined in everything he pursued and beyond that he just had a heart gold. He was funny, the person I turned to for everything – he was an amazing boy.”
She added: “The law needs to change. Concurrent sentencing can’t happen when a death is involved because it just forgets victims and their families.
“We need to change the law and really, hopefully this does get changed and ensures that victims guess their justice and holds criminals to real accountability, because we can’t accept a system that prioritises convenience over accountability.”
Joe Drennan was considered a promising journalism student (Cillian Sherlock/PA)
An online petition in support of the Drennans’ call for reform of consecutive sentencing laws has received more than 11,000 signatures by Tuesday afternoon.
The Drennan family also met senior Sinn Fein representatives on Tuesday. The opposition party is supporting the introduction of legislation to ensure that sentences for multiple crimes involving loss of life must be served consecutively rather than concurrently.
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said her party would do everything in its power to support the Drennans and ensure they get “the justice they seek”.
She added: “The whole country knows the story of Joe. A brilliant young man, a beloved son and brother, with everything to live for and his life was cruelly snatched away.”
The Drennan family said they would welcome a meeting with Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan and Taoiseach Micheal Martin.
The matter was also raised inside the Dail by Mr Carthy.
In response, Mr O’Callaghan said he could not comment on “issues arising from specific sentences imposed in individual cases”.
However, he said: “It is certainly the case in certain instances consecutive sentences appear to be more appropriate than concurrent sentences and I think there is a benefit in clarifying that across the board.”
Elsewhere on Tuesday, it was reported that the Courts Service intercepted a threatening letter to the judge at the centre of the case.
Gardai said they were conducting inquiries into “correspondence received at a premises in Limerick city”.
The Drennan family said they were not involved in or aware of the letter at all, with Mr Drennan adding: “We don’t do business that way.”