'Justice must prevail': Vigil held in memory of Joe Drennan at the University of Limerick

“LET JUSTICE prevail for Joe”. That was the main message of a vigil held at the University of Limerick (UL) for hit-and-run victim Joe Drennan.

Crowds of people gathered this Thursday to stand in solidarity for the late UL Journalism student from Mountrath in Co Laois, who passed away on October 13, 2023, following a tragic road traffic collision.

The 21-year-old’s family, friends, colleagues and the wider community are now demanding justice is served as they call on the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to appeal the “lenient sentence” of his killer, Kieran Fogarty.

The Limerick Voice team of the UL journalism department organised a vigil entitled #JusticeForJoe this February 6, with a campaign that is gaining momentum following the sentencing hearing into Joe's death one week ago. 

“The law seems to be weighted towards the criminal,” said Tim Drennan, Joe’s father.

“My other son Richard contacts the DPP every day. They just say there is a process."

Fogarty was sentenced last Thursday, January 30, to six-and-a-half years for dangerous driving which killed Joe at a bus stop on the Dublin Road in 2023 and eight years for separate firearm offences, with both sentences to be served concurrently. 

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The sentence sparked widespread outrage, with Joe’s father Tim saying Fogarty had left his son to “die like a dog on the street”. 

A petition has been launched by the family to reform consecutive sentencing laws in Ireland for crimes involving loss of life under Joe’s name and can be found here.

“Joe was pinned under the car while Fogarty sat on top of him wiping his DNA from the vehicle. He offered no assistance and just ran away, leaving him to die under the car,” Tim said. 

A friend of Joe's, Síofra Grant, said at the vigil: “We were promised justice on the 30th of January and we were denied it, just like Joe was denied the rest of his life.”

The Drennan family are calling on the DPP to make the “right and early decision” for their youngest son, regarding appealing the sentences received by Fogarty, age 21, of Hyde Avenue, Ballinacurra Weston.

Fogarty was on bail at the time of the killing. He was disqualified from driving the evening and was speeding at 122km/h in a 50km/h zone the night he killed Joe, who was waiting to catch a bus home after his work shift in nearby restaurant, La Cucina. 

Additionally, Labour TD Conor Sheehan stood in Dáil Éireann to raise Joe’s tragic death with Taoiseach Michéal Martin and cited convicted killer Fogarty’s sentence as a means to address issues in the Irish justice system. 

“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,” Deputy Sheehan said in Leinster house the day before the vigil, on February 5.

“I’m asking you [the Taoiseach] to urgently review sentencing guidelines, particularly in relation to the issue of concurrent and suspended sentences for violent offences.” 

The Taoiseach thanked Deputy Sheehan for his “very important question” and recognised that it is “extremely traumatic for the family of Joe Drennan”. 

He acknowledged that “there are issues in low sentencing that do need review” and promised that the issue will be raised with Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan.