THE MOTHER OF student journalist Joe Drennan, who was killed in a hit and run two years ago, said her family were informed this morning that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had lodged an appeal against a six and half year concurrent sentence imposed on her son’s killer, on the grounds it was too lenient.

At his sentencing hearing last month, Kieran Fogarty, (21), Hyde Avenue, Ballinacurra Weston, Limerick, was jailed for eight years for shooting at a house in April 2023. The sentencing judge, Colin Daly, initially told the hearing that he was sentencing Fogarty to an additional six and a half years for the fatal hit and run.

However, Judge Daly corrected himself during the hearing and said the hit and run sentence would run concurrently to the eight year sentence, meaning Fogarty would not serve any jail time for killing the 21-year-old college student.

Joe Drennan’s family have publicly campaigned against the sentence, calling on the DPP to lodge an appeal against it and arguing that the sentence should run consecutively to the other sentence.

A petition set up by the family had at the time of writing garnered more than 11,500 signatures since it began last week.

Tim and Marguerite Drennan holding a picture of their son Joe Drennan, who was killed by Kieran Fogarty in October 2023. David Raleigh David Raleigh

The DPP has been contacted for comment.

Kieran Fogarty, who was not known to Joe Drennan, was speeding and filming himself on a mobile phone while he drove a BMW 5 Series in the moments leading up to the fatal hit and run.

At the time, Fogarty was on bail, subject to several arrest warrants, and banned from driving by the courts.

Fogarty broke a red light, collided with another car injuring the driver, before ploughing into a bus stop where Joe Drennan was innocently waiting for a bus, on October 13th, 2023.

Joe Drennan, from Mountrath, Co Laois, was a fourth-year journalism student at the University of Limerick, where he was editor in chief of the university’s news platform Limerick Voice.

He had finished a work shift at a restaurant and was waiting for his bus home when he was struck and killed by Fogarty.

At the sentencing hearing Fogarty received further concurrent sentences for engaging in violent disorder, possessing drugs for sale or supply.

Fogarty also pleaded guilty to threatening to kill a man in April 2023 and this offence was taken into consideration by Judge Daly.

The terms of the fatal hit and run sentence sparked public outcry, a vigil was held at University of Limerick, and a protest march took place in Limerick city centre last weekend.

The Drennan family held a protest outside the Dáil yesterday continuing their campaign called #JusticeForJoe.

Meanwhile, a Garda investigation is continuing into the circumstances behind a “threatening” letter sent to Judge Daly following Kieran Fogarty’s sentencing hearing.

The handwritten correspondence was intercepted by courts services staff at the Limerick Circuit Criminal Court complex, Mulgrave Street, Limerick City, last Friday.

Sources said that while it is “not uncommon” for members of the judiciary to receive letters in respect of court cases, the nature of the letter in question raised enough alarm for Gardaí to be contacted.

A Garda Press Office spokeswoman said: “An Garda Síochána is aware of correspondence received at a premises in Limerick city in February 2025. Enquiries are ongoing.”

With reporting by Niall O’Connor