A Limerick father of five who was “steaming drunk” when he drove his car into a truck, killing the truck driver, has been jailed for seven years.Niall O’Halloran, (57), ploughed his Volkswagen Passat into the front of a lorry killing the driver, Arturs Birznieks, Limerick Circuit Criminal Court had heard.O’Halloran, of Woodfield Drive, Newcastle West, Co Limerick, continues to deny he was drunk and that he caused the fatal collision at N69, Reens East, Ardagh, Co Limerick, at 2.50am, March 18th, 2022.Judge Simon McAleese imposed an eight-year prison sentence with the final 12 months suspended, plus a 10-year road ban, after O’Halloran’s conviction for dangerous driving causing the death of Birznieks.The judge imposed a concurrent six-month sentence on O’Halloran after his drunk driving conviction.O’Halloran had denied the two charges but was found guilty by a jury after a nine-day trial last March.After the sentences were announced, O’Halloran shouted to his family that were sitting in the courtroom to support him: “I’ll appeal that, that’s a f***ing disgrace.”In sentencing O’Halloran, the judge said: “Mr O’Halloran has not shown a single jot of remorse, and he appears to have gained no insight into his offending.”Earlier, O’Halloran had shouted in court, “I did not”, 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.O’Halloran’s car struck the front of the truck on Birznieks’s side, which “left Mr Birznieks helpless” as the steering was destroyed, said Buckley, instructed by Brendan Gill, State Solicitor for Co Limerick, assisted by paralegal Sarah Heavenor.The truck then collided with a wall and was subsequently crushed by its own trailer which had been carrying 6,000 live chickens.Birznieks died instantly in the impact and O’Halloran was cut from his car by emergency services and rushed by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick (UHL) with serious injuries.Paramedics and gardaí who had attended the scene gave statements of having smelled alcohol from O’Halloran’s breath and said he had been slurring his words.An emergency medicine doctor at UHL, who treated O’Halloran, told gardaí he believed the defendant was drunk.A blood sample taken from O’Halloran 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.O’Halloran told gardaí after his arrest that he had been drinking “shandies” – part beer, part soft drink – in the hours before the collision, however he said did not consider shandies to be alcoholic drinks.O’Halloran 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.The judge said O’Halloran attempted to “blame” the victim for the collision which was an “atrocious and reprehensible” thing to do.Buckley had told O’Halloran’s trial that he had been “steaming drunk” at the time and that he “couldn’t see straight” for the level of alcohol in his blood.The victim’s wife, Ina Birznieks, said her husband’s death “was an immense blow” to her as well as their two young daughters.“He was not only a beloved husband but also a caring father. After his tragic death, our lives were changed forever,” she said. “Every day is filled with pain and grief.” O’Halloran had a prior conviction in 2011 for drink driving, and was given a three-year road ban and fined €400.