The family of childcare worker Elaine O'Hara could face another year of heartache after it emerged that killer Graham Dwyer's appeal against his murder conviction could be delayed until next year.

His case against his life sentence for Ms O'Hara's murder will not proceed until his High Court action against the State over alleged privacy breaches is concluded.

The architect, from Bandon, Co Cork, is suing the State, alleging breach of privacy over the manner in which personal information about him was accessed from mobile phones.

That action is understood to be critical to his appeal against his conviction and life sentence.

Dwyer received a boost last year when a bid by the State to have the privacy action dismissed was rejected.

A legal source has confirmed that the murder appeal will not proceed until the privacy action has been fully resolved.

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"It's a matter for Mr Dwyer and his legal team. The timing of the appeal against the murder conviction and life sentence is entirely in their hands," he said.

With no indication of when the High Court privacy action will be resolved, it is expected that the murder appeal may not be heard until next year.

Dwyer has been writing up to a dozen letters a week to tell friends and supporters that he will be acquitted at his appeal.

His campaign comes as one Midlands Prison source revealed that Dwyer has become increasingly annoyed that a number of friends have stopped writing to him.

Ms O'Hara's killer was already disappointed that a number of the clubs and associations he had been involved with since his teenage years had severed all contact.

Their actions resulted from the shocking revelations at his Central Criminal Court murder trial in 2015 and included social groups and schools in Cork and Dublin.

Dwyer was a key figure in organising the 20th anniversary dinner of his 1991 Leaving Cert class, but he is understood not to have been contacted about a 25th reunion plans.

His family remain loyal to him and visited him at the Midlands Prison within 24 hours of his conviction.

Dwyer, who lived at Kerrymount Close, Foxrock, Dublin, was convicted of murdering Ms O'Hara (36) on August 22, 2012.

The skeletal remains of the childcare worker were found on Killakee Mountain, Rathfarnham, Dublin, on September 13, 2013.

Dwyer's trial ranked as one of the highest-profile murder hearings in Irish history.

After a marathon trial, the Central Criminal Court jury convicted him of killing Ms O'Hara for his own sexual gratification.

Online Editors