
What challenges face the new Garda Commissioner?
He has been appointed by the Government after a Cabinet meeting.
Who is Justin Kelly?
Justin Kelly has been a member of An Garda Síochána for more than 30 years.
The Dubliner currently serves as Deputy Commissioner for Security, Strategy and Governance, having been appointed to the role last October.
Before that, as assistant commissioner for serious and organised crime, the 52-year-old was responsible for leading the force's response to drugs and organised crime, cybercrime, economic crime, immigration, crimes against vulnerable people as well as the needs of victims.
During his career, he was also detective chief superintendent in the Counter-Terrorism Unit, detective superintendent with the National Protective Services Bureau and detective inspector in the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.
In these roles, Mr Kelly had responsibility for the response to domestic and international terrorism, violent political extremism and online child exploitation investigations.
He also served as a frontline sergeant, inspector and garda in Blanchardstown, Clondalkin and Tallaght in Dublin.
In 2001, Mr Kelly was seconded to work for the United Nations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where he monitored and built the capacity of local law enforcement.
He has a number of qualifications achieved through institutions in Ireland, the United States and the UK.
These include a first class master's degree in serious crime investigation from the University of Limerick and a masters in criminal justice from John Jay College in New York.
What challenges does Justin Kelly face as commissioner?
Since 2018, An Garda Síochána has been working to implement a number of initiatives to reform the force including a new operating model, improved technology and fostering diversity and inclusivity.
There has also been a focus on greater support and training for members as well as an enhanced service for the public.
Among Mr Kelly's main tasks will be the issue of recruitment and retention, which garda representative associations say has been allowed to reach "crisis levels".
They have concerns over the "high level" of resignations from the force as well as the struggle to recruit members.
The associations also have issues over salaries, particularly for new recruits and those serving in lower ranks.
Mr Kelly will also have to defend the new operating model in the face of strong criticism from the associations.
The Garda Representative Association (GRA) recognises that Mr Kelly has had a distinguished career in An Garda Síochána.
It says there are serious challenges ahead however in relation to morale, community policing and the retention of gardaí and the association is seeking a meeting with him.
The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) has also welcomed the appointment, saying it has dealt with Mr Kelly in the past and that he has listened.
It says that when it had issues with the information management system (an administration system), Mr Kelly met with the AGSI, listened to it and made the changes.
The AGSI also said Mr Kelly needs to continue to listen and to continue to refocus An Garda Síochána.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Sunday World
16 hours ago
- Sunday World
Two gardaí suspended and charged with corruption offences after alleged ‘dodgy' drugs search
It follows a lengthy investigation by the anti-corruption unit (GACU) into the search. Two gardaí are due to appear before a court in the midlands in the coming weeks, charged with corruption offences linked to a drugs search. It follows a lengthy investigation by the anti-corruption unit (GACU) into the search. It has been a torrid period for An Garda Síochána, with several serving gardaí or former members of the force appearing before the courts. In the week when Justin Kelly was named as the successor to Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, the force is also reeling from a damning report that claimed some road policing officers displayed a 'blatant disregard' and were 'openly hostile' to carrying out their duties. The latest development involving the two gardaí and the drugs search comes after GACU was investigating if they had been involved in perverting the course of justice. One of the suspects is a sergeant, and the other is a rank-and-file officer. Both are male and have many years' combined service in the force. The allegation is that the search was done for the benefit of the suspects or someone else The sergeant has been involved in a number of high-profile drug-dealing investigations. The other officer has been suspended for some time, while the sergeant was first suspended from duty on Monday after the pair were arrested by appointment. They were charged with the corruption offences and released on station bail. News in 90 Seconds - Saturday, August 2 'This matter relates to an alleged dodgy drugs search,' a source said. 'The allegation is that the search was done for the benefit of the suspects or someone else. The search was not designed to take drugs off the streets.' It is expected that the case will be sent forward to the circuit court, which has wider sentencing powers than the district court. A garda spokesman said: 'As part of an ongoing investigation by the Garda Anti- Corruption Unit, two gardaí based in the north-west region were arrested, and following directions from the DPP have been charged in relation to alleged corruption offences. Both gardaí have been suspended.' Ninety-four gardaí are currently in total suspension across the country, but most of those suspensions are not for alleged corruption matters. An Garda Síochána's anti-corruption unit is involved in a number of separate investigations, including a probe into a now suspended Dublin-based garda over an alleged plot on the Dark Web to have his ex-partner murdered. He has not been arrested. A number of gardaí have appeared in court in other high-profile criminal cases in recent weeks Last week, MMA fighter Charlie Ward (44) and a 57-year-old other man were returned for trial, accused of corruption offences involving 'confidential' garda information and helping to pervert the course of justice. That followed an investigation by the anti-corruption unit, and the DPP directed trial on indictment at Dublin Circuit Court. When outgoing commissioner Drew Harris set up the anti-corruption unit, he said there was no reason why Ireland should be any different from other European countries when it came to dealing with corrupt and criminal activities of a small number of individual officers. Separately, a number of gardaí have appeared in court in other high-profile criminal cases in recent weeks. The cases include former garda Shane Flanagan (39), with an address in Co Clare, was jailed for seven years this week for impersonating a female colleague online and encouraging strangers to go to her house to rape her and her young daughters.


Irish Times
19 hours ago
- Irish Times
Ireland has too many quangos and too many lawyers feeding off its clientelist politics
If government is the group of people who run a state and the formal rules and institutions by which they do so, governance is how they go about that through networks, processes, interests, ideologies and political actors at different levels. The Republic of Ireland has a well-defined and clearly identifiable government structure, formally accountable through elections and the Oireachtas and amply covered by media . In contrast its governance is much more opaque, less visible to its citizens and its media coverage is patchy and uneven. This matters because the Republic currently suffers from a series of problems – in housing, energy, water, climate, health and care infrastructure and in its economic model – that arise from suboptimal governance just as much as from short-sighted or incompetent governments. These problems are often made more visible by comparisons with similar states in Europe and elsewhere. This State is one of the most centralised in Europe , whether defined by the functional and geographical concentration of executive and political power in Dublin or the comparatively puny powers of both parliamentary and local government. Such centralisation puts an onus on political leaders and executive managers to get things right through coherent, integrated policymaking. READ MORE The abiding localism of Irish life is channelled to the capital by networks of TDs, private lobbying and clientelism that dominate the distribution of resources. That perfectly matches the retail, consumerist and reactive side of everyday Irish politics – and provides much of the media agenda. Less often discussed are the resulting poor outcomes across a range of public services because more local and regional structures of governance are unavailable to policymakers. [ Fintan O'Toole: The three pillars of Ireland's political system are crumbling Opens in new window ] Instead policymaking is often outsourced to quangos (quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations). An OECD report identified 800 of them and said they clog up Irish governance and inhibit local government . Notorious examples of poor practice and opaque structures in health and educational bodies provide daily headline news. If we are over-quangoed we are also over-lawyered in planning and insurance per head of comparable European populations. These issues show up plainly in how Irish governments responded to the growing population over the past decade during the economic recovery and expansion after the financial crisis. Immigration of skilled labour through work permits has increased the population by 16 per cent, or more if refugees are also factored in. Imperatives of economic growth drove the expansion; but it was not accompanied by plans to increase housing and infrastructure to provide for a growing and more complex society demanding greater public services. Instead market forces prevailed, but they failed to meet that demand. [ Chronic inability to build anything big in the State is baked into the system Opens in new window ] These widening gaps were identified by some analysts and commentators, and they then became part of the political and election agenda. But they have dominated public debate only since being put there squarely by big economic players and international organisations over the past year. Infrastructure deficits inhibit new investments, they say – and that coincides with wider concerns about how vulnerable the Irish economic model has become to international shocks, particularly from Donald Trump. Hence the level of interest in the National Development Plan and its methodology. Rather than base it on an analysis of changing demographics, economic trends and social needs which generate development priorities, its method is more ad hoc in response to the uncertain international backdrop. Detailed project plans await definition, as the scale of the Trump tariff shock is assessed. In the meantime, different Government departments are allocated capital expenditure envelopes based on their bargaining power. How will the updated National Development Plan shape Ireland in years to come? Listen | 35:59 It's a far cry from the strategic foresight approach to governing increasingly advocated by analysts, companies, the EU and international organisations. That involves gathering information about relevant trends and potentially disruptive risks, developing scenarios about plausible futures and integrating such insights into anticipatory planning. The OECD has advocated such an approach for Ireland and there are several initiatives in government and academia to apply them. Had they been deployed over the past decade we could have been better prepared to tackle these development gaps – not to mention linking them to the equally plausible prospect of a united Ireland. Notwithstanding the highly centralised nature of Irish government, it has lacked the capacity to aggregate governance coherently and to resist particular interests. The consequences of changing demographics and economic growth should have been more effectively foreseen, but were not. For that politicians and executive managers should share the blame. [ Tariff 'uncertainties' could 'weigh heavily' on Irish economic growth Opens in new window ] The problems are exacerbated by the narrow base of Irish taxation, in which 10 US corporations provide 40 per cent of corporate tax revenue, along with the glaring six-fold contrast between the multinational sector's high productivity and that of indigenous industry. Tackling these problems requires structural change in the Republic's governance to decentralise and redemocratise power, by prioritising and co-ordinating development gaps more effectively with better analysis. That would help repair the seriously widening distributional and political gaps between older and younger generations.


Irish Independent
19 hours ago
- Irish Independent
The Irish Independent's View: Prudence, rather than largesse, makes most economic sense for Ireland right now
As August begins, we have already seen so many budgetary kites take flight to tell us the making of the next year's budget starts earlier each year. Right now, Ireland is a rich nation and its people have expectations that accord with that. But in a Trumpian discordant world, that situation could change rapidly, as we found to our cost in 2008 when we entered what former finance minister Michael Noonan later called 'a lost decade'. Ireland's small, open economic model leaves us susceptible to swift boom-and-bust switches. In early October, we will learn the 2026 financial plans of 'Mr Prudence' himself, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe. Many of us believe we deserve more goodies, but this is more a time for caution. If tough global economic times hit soon, we will be in a better position than we were in 2008, but the atypical budget surplus, which contrasts with our European neighbours, can only cushion so much. Ireland cannot be an economic outlier forever. We are reminded that the days of the early 2000s, when taoiseach Bertie Ahern declaimed that the 'boom just got boomier', presaged tough economic times. The impact of Donald Trump's tariffs may diminish the resources available for such largesse Mr Donohoe and his colleagues insist that one-off budget payments, like electricity bill grants, are not going to happen next year, but closer analysis suggests the Government's dilemma is that voters will notice the difference if they do not happen again. This is particularly true for households with children, who benefited from two double welfare payments. For a single worker on €50,000 last year, the budget measures delivered about €860 extra per year. When you add the two energy credits amounting to €250, you find it was a nice bonus that will be missed. The impact of Donald Trump's tariffs may diminish the resources available for such largesse, which should at all events be targeted, rather than blanket, measures. It may also provide some political cover for a more prudent approach to public spending. Last month's Summer Economic Statement indicated that there would be scope for a tax package of about €1.5bn, but a substantial part of that would be taken up by the pledged hospitality Vat rate cut to 9pc. Put this alongside keeping the lower Vat rate on household energy bills and you are suddenly over €1bn for a full year. Yet voters want income tax cuts, which are key to politicians' re-election, assuming there is available cash. Then there is the demand for welfare increases averaging €12 a week last year. All things considered, the Budget 2026 will prove more challenging than in the years of austerity when cutbacks virtually wrote themselves.