Search
06 Sept 2025
Search
06 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Laois locals have loudly voiced their support of Mountrath student Joe Drennan's family in their search for consecutive sentencing.
Joe Drennan (21) from Mountrath was sadly killed in October 2023 after being struck by a vehicle in a hit and run.
Driver Kieran 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.
Family and friends of Mr. Drennan have appealed to the Director of Public Prosecutions to appeal this sentence, as it means he will serve no additional time for the killing of Mr. Drennan.
On Wednesday, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has formally appealed the "undue leniency" of the sentence handed down to the man whose dangerous driving resulted in the death of Joe Drennan.
Independent Republican TD Brian Stanley has welcomed the decision to lodge an appeal on the sentence of 6.5 years imposed on the killer of Joe Drennan.
He welcomes the decision stating that the family and the local community have been demanding this action.
“It is outrageous as things stand, that Kieran Fogarty in effect will not serve any time, giving the fact that the sentence for the death of Mr Drennan is running concurrently to a firearm offence. This man has 46 previous convictions," Deputy Stanley said.
"I have engaged again this week with the Minister for Justice Jim O Callaghan and the DPP Catherine Pierce regarding the case and this is a welcome first step.
The next step must be for the Minister to review sentencing guidelines and change them so that perpetrators of serious crimes serve appropriate time by not having them running concurrently," Deputy Stanley finished.
A solidarity walk was recently held for Mr Drennan in Mountrath GAA grounds.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
