Latest news with #GardaCommissioner
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Justin Kelly appointed new Garda commissioner
Justin Kelly will become the new Garda commissioner on September 1, Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan has announced. Mr Kelly will replace Drew Harris, who is to retire after seven years as commissioner. Mr Kelly is currently a deputy commissioner and has been appointed for five years. Mr O'Callaghan said: 'The role of Garda commissioner is one of the most challenging and impactful leadership positions in Ireland's public service and the appointment process was suitably rigorous. 'I am satisfied that Justin Kelly is both qualified and particularly well suited to the role of commissioner, given his extensive leadership experience over the last 30 years in some of the most challenging issues facing An Garda Siochana, including national security, domestic and sexual violence, and organised crime. 'I know Justin is fully committed to providing a high-visibility, highly trusted policing service to the public.' The selection process identified 14 candidates and included two interviews and a presentation. Mr Kelly was selected as the preferred candidate. Mr Harris will continue to lead the force until September, when he will retire after 41 years of service to policing across the island.
BBC News
12 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Justin Kelly: New Garda Commissioner announced
The Irish Government has appointed a new Garda Commissioner who will be in term for five Kelly was appointed by the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Jim O'Callaghan and will replace former Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) deputy chief constable Drew Harris. A three-week recruitment campaign was held by publicjobs (formerly the Public Appointments Service) in May, including an international search for suitable candidates, which resulted in 14 was appointed to his current role as Deputy Commissioner Security, Strategy and Governance in October 2024. The new commissioner will take up the role on 1 September 2025 with Commissioner Harris continuing to lead An Garda Síochána until that selection process included two interviews and a presentation by candidates as well as a detailed psychometric assessment. Harris will retire after 41 years of service to policing on the island of Ireland, including a total of seven years as Garda O'Callaghan said: "The role of Garda Commissioner is one of the most challenging and impactful leadership positions in Ireland's public service and the appointment process was suitably rigorous."O'Callaghan said he was satisfied that Kelly is both qualified and "particularly well suited" to the role.
Irish Times
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Justin Kelly named as new Garda Commissioner to succeed Drew Harris
The Government has appointed current Garda Deputy Commissioner Justin Kelly to succeed Garda Commissioner Drew Harris , who is due to retire in a matter of weeks. Mr Kelly has been appointed to lead the Garda force after a recruitment process that began in May. Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan recommended Mr Kelly to his colleagues at Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, where the appointment was confirmed. In a statement, Mr O'Callaghan said he is 'very pleased' the Government has accepted his recommendation. READ MORE 'The role of Garda Commissioner is one of the most challenging and impactful leadership positions in Ireland's public service and the appointment process was suitably rigorous,' he said. 'I am satisfied that Justin Kelly is both qualified and particularly well suited to the role of Commissioner given his extensive leadership experience over the last 30 years in some of the most challenging issues facing An Garda Síochána including national security, domestic and sexual violence, and organised crime.' [ Justin Kelly interview: The changing Irish drugs trade: rocketing cocaine prices, gangs growing closer and Irish middlemen in Colombia Opens in new window ] A three-week recruitment campaign was held in May, including an international search for suitable candidates, which resulted in 14 candidates. The selection process included two interviews and a presentation by candidates as well as a detailed psychometric assessment. While Mr Harris is not due to retire until September 1st, after seven years in the role, the handover to Mr Kelly is expected to take place sooner than that. His appointment will be a popular one across the Garda force as he has spent the majority of his policing career involved in crime investigation work, mostly combating drugs and organised crime. As a result, he is regarded as someone familiar with the pressures facing frontline gardaí. A Dubliner, Mr Kelly joined An Garda Síochána as a recruit in the 1990s and has served, since last October, as deputy commissioner for 'security, strategy and governance'. Before that he was assistant commissioner in charge of the 'serious and organised crime' area of the Garda, including all the specialist units that tackle serious and for-profit crime. He has been one of the key figures in the Garda leading and managing the investigations into the Kinahan cartel, including its leadership tier based in Dubai and its Irish operation, which was previously headed by Dubliner Liam Byrne. In an interview with The Irish Times last year, Mr Kelly said the nature of Irish organised crime had changed, with far fewer gangland gun murders but significant co-operation around importing drugs. He said he believed drugs gangs had seen how the Garda wiped out the Kinahan and Hutch groups in Dublin during the operation targeting their feud and had decided not to engage in feuding or gun murders for fear of being targeted in the same way. Mr Kelly said although many people believed Irish crime groups were 'competing with each other and these groups would kill each other on sight, that isn't the way'. Instead, Irish gangs were 'coming together' to import drugs, or transit drugs through the country on to other final destinations. 'We used to be an end destination, now we're [also] a transit country, without a doubt. And in some ways, we're a production country now, around cannabis herb,' Mr Kelly said, in reference to the proliferation of cannabis growhouses in the Republic. 'We've even had large MDMA [and] methamphetamine seizures here that have been going out of the country. And some of the really big cocaine seizures ... some of them have been partly staying here, partly transiting through the country.' Earlier, the Garda Representative Association (GRA) said the key issues that the new Garda Commissioner will have to address are retention, the morale crisis within the force, the use of suspensions and discipline, lack of training and excessive bureaucracy. Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast on Tuesday morning, the GRA's general secretary, Ronan Slevin, said he hoped that whoever is appointed as Garda Commissioner will recognise those issues that need to be addressed immediately. When asked about the GRA's lack of faith in Mr Harris, Mr Slevin said that he had failed to address issues identified by the association over many years. 'He still is denying that there is a morale issue within An Garda Síochána. And I think that the resignation and retirement figures clearly demonstrate that there's a serious morale issue within the workforce.' Mr Slevin said that the new commissioner will have to address issues such as the inability to attract new members into the force, as well as the staff retention issue. 'Those are issues that he can address immediately, the use of suspension, discipline, the lack of training, the bureaucracy and administration tasks that members unnecessarily have to get involved in on a day-to-day basis. All of that is leading into a demoralised workforce and I think that the new Commissioner will have to address that,' said Mr Slevin. 'You have a force that are in some way in fear of working because they know that if they make any form of a mistake they will be disciplined severely as a result of that, and that strangles the workforce in the environment that our workforce is in.'
BreakingNews.ie
12 hours ago
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Justin Kelly named as new Garda Commissioner
Justin Kelly will become the new Garda Commissioner on September 1st, Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan has announced. Mr Kelly will replace Drew Harris, who is to retire after seven years as Commissioner. Advertisement Mr O'Callaghan said: 'I am very pleased that the Government has today accepted my recommendation to appoint Justin Kelly, who is currently serving as deputy commissioner security, strategy and governance, as commissioner of An Garda Síochána following an open competition conducted by publicjobs. 'The role of Garda commissioner is one of the most challenging and impactful leadership positions in Ireland's public service and the appointment process was suitably rigorous.' He added: 'I am satisfied that Justin Kelly is both qualified and particularly well suited to the role of Commissioner given his extensive leadership experience over the last 30 years in some of the most challenging issues facing An Garda Síochána including national security, domestic and sexual violence, and organised crime. 'I know Justin is fully committed to providing a high visibility, highly trusted policing service to the public.' More to follow...
Irish Times
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Cabinet set to approve new Garda Commissioner to succeed Drew Harris
The successor to Garda Commissioner Drew Harris is expected to be named on Tuesday following a recruitment process. Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan will recommend the successful candidate to Cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday, and the appointment will be formally approved by Government. Mr Harris's term as commissioner will continue until September 1st. The number of senior Garda officers who applied for the commissioner's job, which was advertised in May and carries a salary of at least €314,000, was relatively low, according to sources. READ MORE Both serving deputy commissioners, who would normally be the front-runners for the job, are believed to have applied. Deputy Commissioner Justin Kelly has worked his full policing career in the Garda, having joined as a recruit via the Garda College, Templemore, Co Tipperary. Deputy Commissioner Shawna Coxon also applied for the role. She was appointed deputy commissioner in April 2021, having previously been deputy chief officer in the Toronto Police in Canada. A former senior officer in the PSNI, Mr Harris was appointed head of An Garda Síochána in October 2018 on a five-year contract, which was extended for a further two years. More recently his term was extended by another three months, despite the Department of Justice having initially strongly denied reports he had been approached about a second extension. Mr O'Callaghan said he intended for the new commissioner to be in place to take over from Mr Harris when he retires on September 1st. The recruitment process was run by Public Jobs, formerly the Public Appointments Service. The key issues that the new Garda Commissioner will have to address are retention, the morale crisis within the force, the use of suspensions and discipline, lack of training, and excessive bureaucracy, according to the general secretary of the Garda Representative Association, Ronan Slevin. Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, Mr Slevin said he hoped that whoever is appointed as Garda Commissioner will recognise those issues that need to be addressed immediately. When asked about the GRA's lack of faith in Mr Harris, Mr Slevin said that he had failed to address issues identified by the association over many years. 'He still is denying that there is a morale issue within An Garda Síochána. And I think that the resignation and retirement figures clearly demonstrate that there's a serious morale issue within the workforce.' Mr Slevin said that the new commissioner will have to address issues such as the inability to attract new members into the force, as well as the staff retention issue. 'Those are issues that he can address immediately, the use of suspension, discipline, the lack of training, the bureaucracy and administration tasks that members unnecessarily have to get involved in on a day-to-day basis. All of that is leading into a demoralised workforce and I think that the new commissioner will have to address that,' said Mr Slevin. 'You have a force that are in some way in fear of working because they know that if they make any form of a mistake they will be disciplined severely as a result of that, and that strangles the workforce in the environment that our workforce is in.'
