Garda boss Harris ‘is not an outsider’
Justice Minister backs new chief as he starts role
NEW Garda Commissioner Drew Harris is ‘no outsider’, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan declared yesterday as the Belfast man prepares to take office on Monday.
The ex-PSNI detective chief is ‘an Irishman who served with distinction in Northern Ireland in very difficult circumstances and who saw at first hand the Troubles on the island of Ireland with the loss of his father many years ago,’ Mr Flanagan said.
Questions over Mr Harris’s loyalties, given that he previously worked closely with British secret intelligence service MI6, arose after he was announced as replacement to Acting Commissioner Donall Ó Cualáin, who formally retires on Sunday night.
It was announced on his appointment that Mr Harris – Incoming: Drew Harris whose father, RUC Superintendent Alwyn Harris, was murdered in an IRA bombing in 1989 – was speedily seeking an Irish passport and would be pledging his allegiance to the State that is now his employer.
‘He is an Irishman, he is a policeman, he’s not an outsider, and I think he will be an excel lent Garda Commissioner,’ Mr Flanagan said.
In a speech to mark the official opening of a new Garda divisional headquarters at Kevin Street in Dublin city centre, Mr Flanagan said the incoming commissioner was taking up office at a ‘pivotal time’ in the history of An Garda Síochána.
‘The appointment of a new Commissioner, and one who comes from a different police service, albeit one that works closely with the gardaí, is significant and I hope will enrich the organisation.
‘We are in fact about to turn the page for this fine organisation,’ the Justice Minister said, adding, ‘The impending conclusion of the work of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland, will chart a new model for Irish policing in the decades ahead.’
He said he expected the com- mission, headed by Kathleen O’Toole, to report ‘very shortly,’ with the blueprint on the way forward for Irish policing due next month. Mr Flanagan paid tribute to Mr Ó Cualáin for his many years of service to the public and the State.
He remarked: ‘You have also made progress on the challenging reform agenda, and this weekend, as you pass on the baton to incoming Commissioner Drew Harris, we wish you a happy and well-deserved retirement and happy years with your family and friends.’
The new Garda divisional headquarters at Kevin Street is the third such HQ opened in recent weeks, following Galway and Wexford, and reflects a major investment programme, the minister said.
The Government plans to have a Garda workforce of 21,000 by 2021, comprising 15,000 gardaí, 4,000 civilians and 2,000 reserves. Some 600 new gardaí graduated last year and this year a further 800 recruits will enter the Garda College.
‘I think he will be excellent’