WATCH: Taoiseach urged to review sentencing after tragic death of Laois student Joe Drennan

The sentencing of Kieran Fogarty, who was jailed for six and a half years for the hit-and-run which killed young Laois man Joe Drennan, has been raised with the Taoiseach in the Dáil by Limerick City TD Conor Sheehan.

Joe Drennan, aged just 21-years-old, was killed in October 2023 after being struck by a vehicle driven by Fogarty in Limerick City. In the sentencing last week, Fogarty was jailed for six and a half years which will run concurrently with an eight year sentence imposed on him for an unrelated offence of discharging a firearm in a drive-by shooting.

This ruling means that Fogarty will not face any extra time on his sentence for killing the journalism student. This has caused widespread outrage across the country, with young Drennan's family launching a social media campaign, #JusticeForJoe, which is calling for the DPP to appeal the sentence in the hopes that it would instead be served consecutively to Fogarty's eight year sentence.

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Speaking in the Dáil on Wednesday, TD Conor Sheehan raised the issue of sentencing reform with Taoiseach Micheál Martin. Sheehan said: "Taoiseach I rise today to raise with you the issue of sentencing and the need for sentencing reform after the sentencing in recent days after the tragic death of Joe Drennan in Limerick City who was a very promising journalism student and who had a bright future in front of him and was killed because of somebody's decision to drive dangerously, deliberately."

He continued: "There must be accountability in relation to this because the person who killed Joe Drennan has received a concurrent sentence for this crime and won't spend one additional hour in prison. I'm asking you to urgently review sentencing guidelines, particularly in relation to the issue of concurrent and suspended sentences for violent offences." 

In a social media post, the TD added: "For too long the criminal justice system has failed victims of violent crime."

In response to Sheehan, the Taoiseach acknowledged that it was "extremely traumatic for the family of Joe Drennan to have such a situation unfold." He told the Limerick City TD that he will discuss the issue with the Minister of Justice. 

Micheál Martin concluded: "I don't want to comment on it in case it might still be live, in the sense of potential appeal. There are issues there in terms of the law and sentencing that does need review."