The family of queer journalist Joe Drennan, who was tragically killed in a hit-and-run in October 2023, were informed that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has lodged an appeal against a concurrent sentence imposed on the killer.

On January 30 this year, Kieran Fogarty (21) received a six-year jail sentence for dangerous driving causing Joe Drennan’s death in Limerick on October 13, 2023. Judge Colin Daly established that the sentence would run concurrently to a previous eight-year sentence for reckless driving and the illegal discharge of a firearm, meaning that Fogarty would not serve any additional jail time for killing Joe.

At the time of the fatal hit-and-run, Forgarty was already disqualified from driving and had an extensive criminal record, including 46 previous convictions—41 of which were related to road offences.

The sentencing on the case sparked widespread protests and calls for justice, with the Drennan family and University of Limerick students campaigning for it to be appealed. Describing the sentence as “disgusting”, the family said it did not reflect the tragedy caused by Fogarty’s action. They also stated that concurrent sentences are not appropriate when a fatality is involved.

According to reports, the Drennan family confirmed on Wednesday, February 12, that the DPP office informed them that they will go ahead with an appeal.

Marguerite Drennan, Joe’s mother, described this development as a brilliant result, adding: “Yes, it’s great news, thank God, thank God, thank God.”

“My son, Richard, contacted us, so it is brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, it’s absolutely unreal, thank God for it,” she said.

“I hope it will give us more of a sense of closure, please God, we just need justice for Joe, and then we have to go ahead with the petition to change the concurrent sentencing laws, so that has to go ahead as well,” she added.

The family has launched a petition calling on the Government and Minister for Justice “to amend the current sentencing laws to ensure that multiple sentences for serious crimes, particularly those involving loss of life, are served consecutively rather than concurrently”. Launched on Febraury 6, the petition has already garnered over 11,500 signatures.

Marguerite Drennan added: “It won’t bring Joe back, but it will help other families.”