The man accused of murdering 23-year-old school teacher Ashling Murphy in County Offaly last year will go on trial in June, the Central Criminal Court has heard. 

Jozef Puska, 32, with an address in Mucklagh, County Offaly, is charged with murdering the school teacher in Tullamore on January 12, 2022. 

Murphy was murdered while jogging in broad daylight along a stretch of the Grand Canal outside Tullamore known as Fiona's Way in memory of missing woman Fiona Pender. 

Puska, a Slovakian national, was arrested in connection with her murder on January 18 and charged a day later. 

He will go on trial at the Central Criminal Court on June 6 in a case expected to last around four weeks. 

Mr. Justice Paul McDermott said on Friday that the June 6 trial date would remain in place before adjourning the case until March 31, when there will be an update on case progression, according to RTÉ News. 

Puska has been granted free legal aid, including representation of junior and senior counsel at the trial.

Murphy's murder caused national outrage, with dozens of vigils and protests taking place around the country and in Irish communities around the world. 

Thousands of people attended her funeral in January last year. President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins and then-Taoiseach Micheál Martin were among several politicians who attended her funeral. 

Murphy, a talented musician, was teaching at Durrow National School at the time of her murder. She had recently graduated from Mary Immaculate College in County Limerick.