Wife-killer Joe O’Reilly scraps his plans to apply for a conditional release by Christmas

“Prisoners are given half a sheet to fill out and give to the governor to request a temporary release for Christmas,” the source said.

“That is usually already done as decisions about TR come back to inmates early next week to give them and their families time to make plans.

“But O’Reilly has not yet submitted an application and it would be very late to do so now.”

The source said O’Reilly’s decision not to seek a TR again this year could be related to his troubled history in prison, as well as the angry reaction of victim Rachel Callaly’s parents after his request became public last year.

Last August, O’Reilly was transferred to the Midlands after a clash with Wheatfield Prison other inmates in Dublin prison.

Sources say that had O’Reilly not been transferred, it is likely that he would have been attacked by other inmates at the prison.

Other inmates reportedly complained to prison officials that O’Reilly had attempted to stir up trouble and had become a “disruptive influence” in the prison.

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

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