The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
‘HEAD OF THE SPIES’ TO RETIRE
ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER MICHAEL O’SULLIVAN TO RETIRE
YOU DON’T NEED BOMBS AND GUNS NOW; YOU JUST NEED TO BECLEVER ENOUGH WITH A COMPUTER AND YOU CAN CREATE HAVOC
HE was once a small boy at school in Tuosist; now he is the head of National Security and Intelligence with An Garda Siochána.
And this year Garda Assistant Commissioner Michael O’Sullivan prepares for a new chapter in his life with his retirement from the force after 40 years.
This March he’ll leave the force, and his are big shoes to fill: the Kerry-born Garda is the head of crime and intelligence in the country, leading the charge in investigating domestic and international terrorism.
In recent months, he has led the Garda involvement in the return of alleged Islamic State member, Lisa Smith, from Syria.
As one of the most prominent members of An Garda Siochána in this arena, he was the firstever member to be elected to the executive board of Interpol in 2018, and he is also member of the executive board of Europol.
He was also the first member of the force to address the UN assembly in New York on global counter-terroism strategies.
While security threats prevent him talking about many of the high-profile cases he has worked on, he says that the job has changed in more recent years.
Where once dissident republican threats were the key focus, this has now been overtaken by groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda and the threat they pose to Europe and Ireland.
However, he believes that the big threat to Irish security in the future will be cyber terrorism, focusing on infrastructure such as water, electricity and transport systems.
“You don’t need bombs and guns now; you just need to be clever enough with a computer and you can create havoc... The next generation of terrorism will involve technology,” he said.
Commissioner O’Sullivan started his career in Store Street in Dublin, and in the late 1980s started working with the UN Police commission in countries such as Yugoslavia, Macedonia and Rwanda. He was ‘bitten by a bug’ that grew his career in combating international terrorism. He also worked with Europol in the Hague for a number of years.
In his role as the current Assistant Garda Commissioner he has a team of more than 700 which includes civilian staff. Much of their work as ‘head of the spies’ goes unnoticed and is kept under the radar, but he was the man behind some of the country’s most high profile terrorist cases including Jihad Jane who lived in Waterford and received 10 year sentence for plotting to kill a Swedish artist. He was also key in the case that saw a man become the first ever person in Ireland to be convicted of financing the terrorist activities of ISIS.
He has also led teams investgating crime gangs and feuds in
Ireland including the current regime of gangs that are linked to last week’s mutilation of a 17-year old boy. He was responsible for the formation of the Armed Response Units and the Emergency Response Units of An Garda Siochána, whose are there to provide weapon back-up to the force. He is also responsible for the state witness protection programme that has seen over 100 state witnesses moved to new locations across the country.
Much of his early career forced on was domestic terrorism in Northern Ireland which has not gone away.
“This year 2019 saw the most threats to PNSI. These national security attacks are taking place still,” he told The Kerryman
With such a varied and high pressure career behind him Commissioner O’Sullivan plans to spend time with his wife Nora and daughters Eimear and Niamh and to come home to his mother Maureen in Tuosist, who is 91 years next month and still the face behind the post office in Tuosist.