Garda Commissioner

The Garda Commissioner (Irish: Coimisinéir na nGardaí) – officially known as the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána (Irish: Coimisinéir an Gharda Síochána) – is the head of the Garda Síochána, the national police force of Ireland. The Garda Commissioner is appointed by the Government of Ireland (Cabinet), on the recommendation of the Minister for Justice. The Commissioner reports to the Minister for Justice, in charge of the Department of Justice, of which the Garda Síochána is a state agency. The Garda Commissioner sits on the Irish Government's National Security Committee (NSC), and is responsible for Ireland's domestic state security apparatus.^[2]

Garda Commissioner
Incumbent Drew Harris since 3 September 2018
Member of	National Security Committee
Reports to	Minister for Justice
Nominator	Minister for Justice
Appointer	Government of Ireland
Term length	5 years
Inaugural holder	Michael Staines
Formation	February 1922
Deputy	Deputy Commissioner Operations
Salary	€250,000[1]

The current Garda Commissioner is Drew Harris, former Deputy Chief Constable of the PSNI, who took office on 3 September 2018.^[1]

History

The Garda Síochána will succeed not by force of arms or numbers, but on their moral authority as servants of the people.

— Inaugural Garda Commissioner Michael Staines, 1922^[3]

Michael Staines became the first Garda Commissioner in February 1922, when the force was founded as the Civic Guard.^[4]

Traditionally, the Commissioner is the highest-ranking police officer in the state, however the selection process for the position is now open to candidates from outside the force, outside a law enforcement agency and outside of Ireland.^[5]

Nóirín O'Sullivan made history in becoming the first woman to lead the force when she was appointed in November 2014, having already served as the acting Garda Commissioner since March 2014.^[6]

Office of the Garda Commissioner

The Garda Commissioner sits at Garda Headquarters, Phoenix Park, Dublin 8 and is supported by a senior management team consisting of two Deputy Commissioners, a Chief Administrative Officer and eight Assistant Commissioners.^[7] There are also a number of Executive Directors, each with a different area of responsibility.

• Deputy Commissioner Policing & Security
• Deputy Commissioner Governance & Strategy
• Chief Administrative Officer
• Assistant Commissioner Crime and Security Intelligence Service
• Assistant Commissioner Organised & Serious Crime
• Assistant Commissioner Roads Policing & Community Engagement
• Assistant Commissioner Governance and Accountability
• Assistant Commissioner Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR)
• Assistant Commissioner Eastern Region
• Assistant Commissioner North Western Region
• Assistant Commissioner Southern Region
• Executive Director Chief Information Officer
• Executive Director of Finance and Services
• Executive Director Human Resources and People Development
• Executive Director Legal and Compliance
• Executive Director Strategy and Transformation
• Executive Director Executive Support & Corporate Services
• Director of Communications
• Garda Chief Medical Officer

List of Garda Commissioners

Name	Term of office		Reason
Michael Staines	February 1922	September 1922	resigned following Civic Guard Mutiny
Patrick Brennan	May 1922	September 1922	(unofficial – elected by mutineers during Civic Guard Mutiny)
Eoin O'Duffy	September 1922	February 1933	dismissed for encouraging a military coup
Eamon Broy	February 1933	June 1938	retired
Michael Kinnane	June 1938	July 1952	died
Daniel Costigan	July 1952	February 1965	resigned
William P. Quinn	February 1965	March 1967	retired
Patrick Carroll	March 1967	September 1968	retired
Michael Wymes	September 1968	January 1973	retired
Patrick Malone	January 1973	September 1975	retired
Edmund Garvey	September 1975	January 1978	replaced (lost government confidence)[8]
Patrick McLaughlin	January 1978	January 1983	retired (wiretap scandal)
Lawrence Wren	February 1983	November 1987	retired
Eamonn Doherty	November 1987	December 1988	retired
Eugene Crowley	December 1988	January 1991	retired
Patrick Culligan	January 1991	July 1996	retired
Patrick Byrne	July 1996	July 2003	retired
Noel Conroy	July 2003	November 2007	retired
Fachtna Murphy	November 2007	December 2010	retired
Martin Callinan	December 2010	March 2014	resigned (penalty points & GSOC bugging scandal)
Nóirín O'Sullivan	March 2014 (acting) November 2014 (permanent)[9]	September 2017	retired (whistleblower scandal & breath test scandal)
Dónall Ó Cualáin	September 2017 (acting)	September 2018	Acting Commissioner
Drew Harris	September 2018	Incumbent

See also

• Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces (Ireland)

References

1. "PSNI officer Drew Harris named as new Garda Commissioner". RTÉ News. 26 June 2018. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
2. Cusack, Jim (10 August 2014). "Employing non-Irish Commissioner is 'madness' say senior gardai". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
3. "Member States / Ireland". Europol. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
4. O'Donnell, Ian (14 November 2014). "Urgent action needed to restore force's moral authority". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
5. "Commencement of open recruitment process for post of Garda Commissioner". Department of Justice. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
6. "Garda has first female commissioner". Irish Independent. 25 November 2014. Archived from the original on 2 May 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
7. "Senior Leadership Team - Garda". www.garda.ie. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
8. Browne, Vincent. "Fingerprint Scandal: New Developments". magill.ie. Magill. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
9. "Nóirín O'Sullivan is the new Garda Commissioner". Journal. 25 November 2014. Archived from the original on 28 November 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2014.