Garda organised crime boss due to be named

Justin Kelly was recently promoted to deputy commissioner. Picture: Brian Lawsless/PA Wire

A new Garda boss for the highly-sought after post of Assistant Commissioner Organised and Serious Crime is expected to be announced on Thursday.

It follows the departure of Justin Kelly, who was promoted to deputy commissioner in a competition earlier this month.

The Irish Examiner also understands a competition for Garda Commissioner could be published before the end of the year in order to have a new commissioner in place before Drew Harris retires next June.

The timing of the competition could be affected by the timing of the general election.

It is expected the replacement for DC Kelly is going to come from among four other assistant commissioners: Paul Cleary, Eastern Region; Angela Willis, Dublin Region, Cliona Richardson, North Western Region and Jonathan Roberts, Governance and Strategy.

The new chief of organised crime will be allocated the post on a temporary ‘cover’ basis, on top of their original job, until a new competition for an assistant commissioner is run.

This may not happen until after the competition for the Garda Commissioner.

The organised crime assistant commissioner covers all the specialist crime bureaus, such as drugs, sexual violence, fraud, cybercrime, immigration, serious investigations, technical bureau and cold cases.

DC Kelly took over the job in May 2022 from John O’Driscoll, who retired and recently passed away.

The Department of Justice and the Policing Authority will run the competition for the Garda Commissioner, through Public Jobs.

The two Garda deputy commissioners, Justin Kelly and Shawna Coxon, would be among the main favourites and many of the assistant commissioners would also be considered strong contenders.