Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
LAST UPDATE | 29 Jul 2025
JUSTICE MINISTER JIM O’Callaghan has announced that the Government has appointed Justin Kelly as the new Garda Commissioner.
Kelly, who is currently serving as Deputy Commissioner Security, Strategy and Governance, as Commissioner of An Garda Síochána, will succeed the current Commissioner, Drew Harris.
Harris is vacating the post after seven years.
The role comes with a salary of at least €314,000 and Deputy Commissioner Kelly will hold it for a five-year term from 1 September.
He will lead a total workforce of nearly 18,000 people.
O’Callaghan said he is “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”.
He said Kelly has experience “in some of the most challenging issues facing An Garda Síochána including national security, domestic and sexual violence, and organised crime”.
“I know Justin is fully committed to providing a high visibility, highly trusted policing service to the public in keeping with the Garda mission of Keeping People Safe,” O’Callaghan added.
Current Garda Commissioner Drew Harris also congratulated his successor, praising Kelly’s decades of “dedicated and highly professional service”.
“Justin is an internationally-recognised police leader who has built coalitions with other law enforcement agencies and partners that have disrupted and dismantled transnational organised crime gangs,” Harris said.
“Justin’s extensive experience and expertise in leading a wide-range of operational and organisational areas will be of immeasurable benefit to him as Commissioner.
“Personally, I want to wish him and his family all the best in him leading this great organisation and continuing its mission of keeping people safe,” Harris added.
The Association of Garda Sergeants & Inspectors (AGSI), which represents senior officers, said it looks forward to working with the new Commissioner “at a time when policing is facing significant internal and external challenges”.
AGSI General Secretary Ronan Clogher described the appointment as coming at a “critical juncture” amid an “ongoing crisis in recruitment and retention, with resignations continuing to rise”.
“Morale is low across the ranks,” said Clogher.
“Rebuilding capacity and trust will require respectful and genuine engagement with those of us on the ground. We want to be part of the solution.”
The recruitment process for the new Garda Commissioner commenced in April.
A three-week recruitment campaign was held by publicjobs (formerly the Public Appointments Service) in May, including an international search for suitable candidates, which resulted in 14 candidates.
The Justice Department said the selection process included two interviews and a presentation by candidates as well as a detailed psychometric assessment.
Commissioner Harris will continue to lead An Garda Síochána until 1 September, at which time he will retire after 41 years of service to policing on the island of Ireland.
Harris previously served as the Deputy Chief Constable of the PSNI.
O’Callaghan praised Harris for his “leadership and commitment over the last seven years” and remarked that he carried out the role with “dedication, skill and integrity”.
“It is a measure of his steady and effective leadership that the organisation maintains very high levels of public trust after what had been a very turbulent period for An Garda Síochána prior to his appointment,” said O’Callaghan.
The Justice Minister said Harris “transformed the quality of Garda investigations into domestic and sexual crimes” and that he has “determinedly focused on tracking down and prosecuting those involved in organised crime”.
O’Callaghan said this has resulted in both a “very substantial measurable drop in gun-related deaths in Ireland, as well as significant increases in seizure of drugs and cash”.
He also praised Harris for “exemplary leadership” of An Garda Síochána throughout the Covid pandemic”.
“The country owes him a debt of gratitude for all his work,” said O’Callaghan.
The justice minister meanwhile said he is not going to be “looking over the shoulder” of the new Garda Commissioner, stating that he will be in charge of operational matters when it comes to the gardaí.
Elsewhere, Tánaiste Simon Harris said Kelly brings “huge policing experience and knowledge of An Garda Síochána to the role” and he thanked Commissioner Harris for “leading An Garda Síochána through a period of significant reform”.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin also welcomed Kelly’s appointment. He commended Kelly on his previous work in the gardaí and described him as “highly qualified”.
He said that he also wanted to pay tribute to outgoing Commissioner Harris, who Martin said “has led An Garda Síochána with great distinction through a period of significant reform in the organisation.”
Sinn Féin’s justice spokesperson Matt Carthy welcomed Kelly’s appointment but remarked that there are “serious challenges facing the new Garda Commissioner”.
Carthy said a “continuing failure to tackle the recruitment and retention crisis” means that there are ”simply not enough Gardaí to deliver on key areas including community policing and roads policing”.
He also called on Kelly to “ensure the policing needs of rural communities are met and that garda resources are not disproportionately drawn into the greater Dublin area”.
Labour’s Justice spokesperson Alan Kelly meanwhile said that Kelly’s appointment “comes at a time of crisis for the force, with serious failures in recruitment, equipment safety, and morale amongst the force”.
He said the appointment “must mark a turning point” and that the new Commissioner needs to ”fight for resources and defend his members”.
Meanwhile, the Social Democrats justice spokesperson Gary Gannon remarked that Kelly “faces an immense challenge reforming the institution, tackling the recruitment crisis and building trust with rank-and-file personnel”.
He called on Kelly to “”heal broken ties with the Garda Representative Association” and added that the “myriad of issues plaguing the force can only be fixed by listening to the concerns of rank-and-file Gardaí”.
-With additional reporting from Diarmuid Pepper and Christina Finn
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say