Wife-killer Joe O’Reilly ditches plans to seek temporary release for Christmas

O’Reilly, who sought and was refused Christmas ‘TR’ for the first time in December 2021, had been expected to apply again this year.

But a source told the Sunday Worldno request has been made by O’Reilly.

“Prisoners are given a half sheet that they can fill in and hand to the Governor seeking temporary release for Christmas,” the source said.

“That is usually done by now as decisions on TR will start coming back to the inmates early next week to give them and their families time to make plans.

“But O’Reilly hasn’t handed in a request so far and it would be very late to make one now.”

The source said O’Reilly’s decision not to seek TR again this year may be related to his troubled history in jail as well as the furious reaction from victim Rachel Callaly’s parents after his request last year became public.

Last August, O’Reilly was transferred from Wheatfield Prison and to the Midlands after clashing withother inmates in the Dublin lock-up.

Sources say, had O’Reilly not been moved, it was considered likely that he would have been attacked by other inmates in the jail.

Other inmates are understood to have complained to prison officers that O’Reilly had been attempting to stir up trouble and had become “a disruptive influence” in the jail.

O’Reilly is serving life for the brutal 2004 murder of his wife, Rachel Callaly (31), at their home in north county Dublin.

He is now serving his 15th year behind bars after being sentenced to life in 2007 for bludgeoning his wife to death at their home in Naul.

Rachel’s dad Jim Callaly told the Sunday World last December he believed the Irish Prison Service made the right decision in refusing O’Reilly his bid for Christmas TR.

“He never admitted to killing Rachel, so there has been no remorse,” he told this paper.

“I don’t think he should ever be let out of prison. He’s a dangerous psychopath.”