Cabinet to receive recommendation for long-vacant Deputy Garda Commissioner position

Four assistant garda commissioners applied for the position: Justin Kelly, Organised and Serious Crime; Cliona Richardson, North Western Region; Jonathan Roberts, Governance & Accountability; and Angela Willis, Dublin Metropolitan Region.

The Cabinet is expected to receive a recommendation for the person to fill the long-vacant position of Deputy Garda Commissioner as early as tomorrow.

It is thought that the name was decided last week shortly after a second, and final, round of interviews was held last Monday.

The decision makers in the interview panel were Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, Department of Justice secretary general Oonagh McPhillips, and Policing Authority chairwoman Elaine Byrne, aided by former chief constable of Police Scotland Iain Livingstone.

Four assistant garda commissioners applied for the position: Justin Kelly, Organised and Serious Crime; Cliona Richardson, North Western Region; Jonathan Roberts, Governance & Accountability; and Angela Willis, Dublin Metropolitan Region.

Sources said it was very difficult to predict who might get the nod, given the high levels of experience, qualities, and expertise of the various candidates.

It is expected Commissioner Harris had, at least, a “strong say”, as one source put it, in the decision.

The position, the second most powerful in the force, has been vacant since last May when Ann-Marie McMahon retired as Deputy Commissioner of Policing and Security.

The position would have been left vacant a lot longer if Ms McMahon had not agreed to stay on while efforts continued to replace her.

A competition last year failed after no assistant commissioners applied for the job because of a row on pension taxes.

That resulted in the interview panel not putting any names forward for the job.

The Government said an independent review of the tax issue would be set up to try to resolve the problem.

Before the report findings were made known, the Government announced a second competition during the summer, organised again through the Public Appointments Service.

There was considerable anger at this decision among senior gardaí, and there was the possibility that none of the assistant commissioners would apply.

In the end, three of them — assistant commissioners Willis, Richardson and Kelly — did apply.

In addition, Assistant Commissioner Roberts — who joined the gardaí from the PSNI over two years ago — also put his name forward.

All four officers completed a first interview in early October, and all of them got through to the second, and final, interview last Monday.

Deputy Commissioner Shauna Coxon, a former police constable from Canada, who joined the gardaí three years ago, was moved from her role as head of Strategy, Governance and Performance to Ms McMahon’s position on an interim basis.

It was renamed as Deputy Commissioner Operations, with the Security element removed to a direct reporting relationship from the Assistant Commissioner Crime and Security and the Garda Commissioner, except in relation to policing intelligence.

It is up to the commissioner to decide what role to appoint his two deputy commissioners, but it is expected that the name going to Cabinet will be for the Policing and Security position.

Who gets this job will be considered a favourite for the position of Garda Commissioner, which will, again, be an open competition. However, there will be a short time period to organise that succession as Mr Harris is due to leave by next May.