Latest news with #DrewHarris
Irish Examiner
5 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Two deputy garda bosses battle for top job
The Garda's two deputy commissioners will fight it out next week in the final round of interviews to see who will be the next commissioner. The Irish Examiner understands there is also one or possibly two external candidates, though their identities are not known outside a very small circle. The four-person interview panel is made up of a member of the recently created Garda Board, two senior civil servants — one from the Department of Justice — and an external policing expert, believed to be a retired British chief constable. The panel will make its recommendation to justice minister Jim O'Callaghan, who will bring it to Cabinet by the end of the month. The minister has previously indicated that the person would take charge on September 1. Commissioner Drew Harris had been expected to retire in June but was asked by the Government to stay on until then. The final round next week is the last stage of a process that included an initial interview, an online questionnaire, a presentation at an assessment centre, followed by another interview. Shawna Coxon, Deputy Commissioner Operations, and Justin Kelly, Deputy Commissioner Security, Strategy and Governance, are through to the final round next week. It is believed that one external candidate is also taking part in the last round, with some suggestions that a second external candidate may also be through. Garda sources have previously expressed a strong preference against an external candidate again (Drew Harris came from the PSNI), citing the effect it would have internally, particularly among senior ranks. One senior source said: 'It depends on your perspective, really, as to who should get the job. From the Government's, they might think they've gone from a difficult period, of being mauled by controversies and scandals in the media and tribunals, to a honeymoon under Drew Harris – at least in terms of no major scandals. So that might mean they might go again for an outside candidate. 'But, internally the mood is very bad. It's rarely been as bad as it has in recent years. People are fed up, for all sorts of reasons, but they all want the job to go internally, to a garda.'
Sunday World
12-07-2025
- Sunday World
Gardai seize €1.2m of ketamine in drugs bust as man (30s) arrested
In total €2.2m worth of drugs were discovered alongside cash and a number of other iterms. Approximately €2.2 million worth of drugs – including €1.2m of ketamine – have been seized by gardaí as part of a seizure operation on Friday evening. A man in his 30s has also been arrested in connection to the operation. The bust intially began on the M7 motorway in Laois as officers from the Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) with assistance from the Clondalkin Drugs Unit intercepted a vehicle. Photo: An Garda Siochana News in 90 Seconds - Saturday July 12 Approximately €100,000 worth of suspected cocaine was discovered and seized by Gardaí from the vehicle in question. This was then followed by a search at a residence in West Dublin which resulted in a further seizure of an estimated €160,000 of cannabis, €1.2 million of ketamine, €530,000 of cocaine, and €210,000 worth of diamorphine. Gardaí have said that an unspecified quantity of cash and a number of items were also seized by officers. They added that the seized drugs have been forwarded to Forensic Science Ireland for analysis. In a statement, a Garda spokesperson added: 'This seizure forms part of Operation Tara; an enhanced national anti-drugs strategy, which was launched by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris on 2nd July 2021. "The focus of Operation Tara is to disrupt, dismantle and prosecute drug trafficking networks, at all levels - international, national, local - involved in the importation, distribution, cultivation, production, local sale and supply of controlled drugs."
Irish Independent
12-07-2025
- Irish Independent
Gardaí seize €1.2m worth of ketamine in drugs bust as man (30s) arrested
A man in his 30s has also been arrested in connection to the operation. The bust initially began on the M7 motorway in Laois as officers from the Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) with assistance from the Clondalkin Drugs Unit intercepted a vehicle. Approximately €100,000 worth of suspected cocaine was discovered and seized by Gardaí from the vehicle in question. This was then followed by a search at a residence in West Dublin which resulted in a further seizure of an estimated €160,000 of cannabis, €1.2 million of ketamine, €530,000 of cocaine, and €210,000 worth of diamorphine. Gardaí have said that an unspecified quantity of cash and a number of items were also seized by officers. They added that the seized drugs have been forwarded to Forensic Science Ireland for analysis. In a statement, a Garda spokesperson added: 'This seizure forms part of Operation Tara; an enhanced national anti-drugs strategy, which was launched by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris on 2nd July 2021. "The focus of Operation Tara is to disrupt, dismantle and prosecute drug trafficking networks, at all levels - international, national, local - involved in the importation, distribution, cultivation, production, local sale and supply of controlled drugs."
Irish Independent
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Up to 100 more roads-policing gardaí needed this year to meet Drew Harris's promise, safety group warns
Garda Commissioner had told Oireachtas committee last May of plan to add 150 officers A leading road safety group has said another 100 gardaí will need to be assigned to roads policing units this year if a commitment made last year by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris on numbers policing Irish roads is to be honoured. However, a spokesperson for An Garda Síochána this week said it does not comment on the specific details of the numbers or members attached to specific units, as these can vary month to month due to several factors, including individual garda members' personal circumstances, family-friendly transfer policies, promotions and retirements.
Irish Times
07-07-2025
- Irish Times
Garda whistleblower claims financial penalisation after voicing concerns about equipment
A senior Garda officer claims he has been financially penalised, with his pay cut by half while he has been on sick leave, because he made protected disclosures outlining concerns about Garda practices and equipment. Detective superintendent Brian O'Reilly has taken his case against An Garda Síochána (AGS) to Dublin Circuit Civil Court in a bid to have his full remuneration reinstated. He claims Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has breached protections for whistleblowers enshrined in legislation by penalising him after he had made protected disclosures. Det Supt O'Reilly claimed in his protected disclosure that leather holsters issued to gardaí for their firearms, made and supplied by an equine saddlery in Kildare, may have been responsible for the serious accidental self-wounding of a garda on protection duty. The injured garda was on duty at the residence of the Israeli ambassador in Dublin on June 11th, 2020. That incident was followed six days later by the murder of Detective Garda Colm Horkan, who was shot and killed by an individual who disarmed him by taking his gun from his holster. That person was later convicted of Det Garda Horkan's capital murder. READ MORE Rosario Boyle SC, appearing with Conor Duff BL, for Det Supt O'Reilly, on Monday told the court her client had suffered 'dire' consequences at such a large reduction in remuneration. This had resulted in difficulties paying his mortgage, it was claimed. His pay has been reduced to 50 per cent of what it ordinarily would be, as the illness that has forced him out of work is classified by AGS as an 'ordinary' sickness rather than 'injury from duty'. Ms Boyle said that in January, the gardaí's executive director, people and development, Yvonne Cooke, rejected Det Supt O'Reilly's application for his absence to be classified as 'injury from duty'. She did so on the basis of a report by a detective chief superintendent asked to investigate the cause of the illness-injury. She also considered the views of An Garda Síochána's chief medical officer. Conor Power SC, for the Garda Commissioner, told Judge John O'Connor there was no proof to suggest Det Supt O'Reilly's absence from work had been categorised in such a way because he made a protected disclosure. He said Det Supt O'Reilly's stance was 'this has been refused to me, therefore it's penalisation because I made a protected disclosure'. Judge O'Connor has said he will endeavour to deliver a judgment by the end of the month, with the case listed for mention on July 25th. Det Supt O'Reilly made his protected disclosure about the holsters in June 2021, saying he had 'ongoing significant concerns'. In the second half of 2022, he raised further concerns internally about plans for a 'defective' leather pistol holster to be tested by Garda armourers at the request of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris. Det Supt O'Reilly said he raised these concerns as he believed they were not qualified. He believed efforts were made to undermine him, including excluding him from decision-making, and to force him out of his position as acting head of the Garda National Technical Bureau. In late 2022, having placed a circular about 'defective' holsters on the Garda portal, he declined a request from management to withdraw it, he claims. In April 2023, Det Supt O'Reilly began a period of sick leave which, he says, was brought about because of his work. In July of that year, he was informed he was being placed under investigation for breach of discipline. This related to his claimed actions around the commission of a second report by Garda management on the leather pistol holster.
