{"id":459473,"date":"2026-05-21T04:16:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T04:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/459473\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T04:16:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T04:16:13","slug":"limerick-driver-who-was-steaming-drunk-when-he-killed-motorist-jailed-for-seven-years-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/459473\/","title":{"rendered":"Limerick driver who was \u2018steaming drunk\u2019 when he killed motorist jailed for seven years \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Limerick<\/a> father of five who was \u201csteaming drunk\u201d when he drove his car into a truck, killing the truck driver, has been jailed for seven years.<\/p>\n

Niall O\u2019Halloran, (57), ploughed his Volkswagen Passat into the front of a lorry killing the driver, Arturs Birznieks, Limerick Circuit Criminal Court had heard.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Halloran, of Woodfield Drive, Newcastle West, Co Limerick, continues to deny he was drunk and that he caused the fatal collision<\/a> at N69, Reens East, Ardagh, Co Limerick, at 2.50am, March 18th, 2022.<\/p>\n

Judge Simon McAleese imposed an eight-year prison sentence with the final 12 months suspended, plus a 10-year road ban, after O\u2019Halloran\u2019s conviction for dangerous driving causing the death of Birznieks.<\/p>\n

The judge imposed a concurrent six-month sentence on O\u2019Halloran after his drunk driving conviction.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Halloran had denied the two charges but was found guilty by a jury after a nine-day trial last March.<\/p>\n

After the sentences were announced, O\u2019Halloran shouted to his family that were sitting in the courtroom to support him: \u201cI\u2019ll appeal that, that\u2019s a f***ing disgrace.\u201d<\/p>\n

In sentencing O\u2019Halloran, the judge said: \u201cMr O\u2019Halloran has not shown a single jot of remorse, and he appears to have gained no insight into his offending.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier, O\u2019Halloran had shouted in court, \u201cI did not\u201d, when prosecuting barrister, Lily Buckley, gave a summary of the evidence that he had driven into the path of Birznieks truck on the morning in question.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Halloran\u2019s car struck the front of the truck on Birznieks\u2019s side, which \u201cleft Mr Birznieks helpless\u201d as the steering was destroyed, said Buckley, instructed by Brendan Gill, State Solicitor for Co Limerick, assisted by paralegal Sarah Heavenor.<\/p>\n

The truck then collided with a wall and was subsequently crushed by its own trailer which had been carrying 6,000 live chickens.<\/p>\n

Birznieks died instantly in the impact and O\u2019Halloran was cut from his car by emergency services and rushed by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick (UHL) with serious injuries.<\/p>\n

Paramedics and garda\u00ed who had attended the scene gave statements of having smelled alcohol from O\u2019Halloran\u2019s breath and said he had been slurring his words.<\/p>\n

An emergency medicine doctor at UHL, who treated O\u2019Halloran, told garda\u00ed he believed the defendant was drunk.<\/p>\n

A blood sample taken from O\u2019Halloran at the hospital showed he was three times over the legal limit, and most likely six times over the legal limit closer to the time of the fatal collision.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Halloran told garda\u00ed after his arrest that he had been drinking \u201cshandies\u201d \u2013 part beer, part soft drink \u2013 in the hours before the collision, however he said did not consider shandies to be alcoholic drinks.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Halloran still maintains that Birznieks truck failed to take a bend properly in the moments before the fatal collision and that the truck had veered over on to his side of the road.<\/p>\n

The judge said O\u2019Halloran attempted to \u201cblame\u201d the victim for the collision which was an \u201catrocious and reprehensible\u201d thing to do.<\/p>\n

Buckley had told O\u2019Halloran\u2019s trial that he had been \u201csteaming drunk\u201d at the time and that he \u201ccouldn\u2019t see straight\u201d for the level of alcohol in his blood.<\/p>\n

The victim\u2019s wife, Ina Birznieks, said her husband\u2019s death \u201cwas an immense blow\u201d to her as well as their two young daughters.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was not only a beloved husband but also a caring father. After his tragic death, our lives were changed forever,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day is filled with pain and grief.\u201d <\/p>\n

O\u2019Halloran had a prior conviction in 2011 for drink driving, and was given a three-year road ban and fined \u20ac400.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Limerick father of five who was \u201csteaming drunk\u201d when he drove his car into a truck, killing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459474,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[45,13553,61,60,1396,43,11318],"class_list":["post-459473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-an-garda-siochana","tag-circuit-court","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-limerick","tag-news","tag-road-safety"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}