The husband of Joyce Quinn, a Kildare woman murdered in the village of Milltown 23 years ago, says it would be safer if he never comes face to face with the man who killed his wife.

44-year-old Joyce was murdered by local man Kenneth O’Reilly on January 23rd 1996.

O’Reilly - who was 22 at the time - was convicted of the mother-of-three's murder and given a life sentence.

However, Joyce’s husband Ray says his wife's killer is due to be released from prison in the coming months.

Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast with Susan Keogh, Ray Quinn called for O'Reilly - now in his 40s - to not be allowed back to Kildare.

Ray is resigned to the fact that O'Reilly will be released from prison, but he wants it to be a condition of his release that he is unable to return to the county.

He has written to the Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan about the issue, suggesting there's legal precedence for barring convicted killers from specific areas after release.

He says he's yet to receive a response beyond an acknowledgement that his submission had been received.

"My family has been destroyed"

Joyce Quinn

Telling Susan he'd be "appalled" if O'Reilly came back to Kildare, Mr Quinn observed: "My three children are married now and they all live in Kildare, they all have children and they live in the locality.

"We're the victims here... Why should we have to take the chance of bumping into this man who has caused us such misery?"

"We don't have the death penalty here, thank god. But when people get a life sentence... there should be conditions attached to the parole.

When asked how he'd feel if he met O'Reilly, Ray said: "I would prefer not to meet him. I think that would be safer for both of us."

Joyce's husband also suggested life would be extremely difficult for O'Reilly if he returned to the "tiny community" of Milltown.

Ray observed: "If he fades into the anonymity in a big city - like Cork, Limerick, Dublin - he's anonymous. [In Milltown] he's not - everyone knows what he did."

He explained that he's fortunate that all his children and their families live near him, with his "youngest girl more or less taken over my house with her family".

However, he added: "The downside of that, of course, is that if Kenneth O'Reilly comes back to the locality we're right there in the middle of it.

"The good side of the unfortunate thing that happened to us is that it brought us very, very close as a family, and we're very supportive of each other."

They've also recently welcomed a new family member.

Ray said: "She will probably be my last grandchild, and I was absolutely chuffed beyond belief when my son and his wife called her Joyce."