Justin Kelly named as new Garda Commissioner to succeed Drew Harris

Irish Times

5 days ago

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.
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'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.'
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Justin Kelly interview: The changing Irish drugs trade: rocketing cocaine prices, gangs growing closer and Irish middlemen in Colombia
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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.'