Having joined An Garda Síochána as a recruit at the Garda College, Templemore, Co Tipperary, in 1992, Deputy Commissioner Justin Kelly will now be responsible for leading the force when Garda Commissioner Drew Harris retires on September 1st.
The Government on Tuesday confirmed the appointment of Kelly, a 53-year-old from Dublin 6, as Garda commissioner. The contract is for five years, on a current salary of €314,512.
Kelly is relatively young to take on the top policing post in the Republic. And as the retirement age in the force was increased from 60 to 62 years, he could serve as commissioner for the next nine years. That is assuming he would want to, and that he would be offered contract extensions by the Government, though extensions are common for senior officers.
An athlete who still runs the marathon in under four hours, Kelly emerged as the preferred candidate from a recruitment competition, which attracted 14 applications for the job, that began in May. It concluded last week when the final interviews were conducted.
While he has no public profile to speak of – something that will now change quickly – he is well known and popular across the Garda.
News of his appointment was well received across the ranks, especially in the context of concerns that a foreign police officer, or even a civilian, could be parachuted into the Garda commissioner’s role.
“He’d be seen as ‘one of our own’, if you like,” said one source. “He’s come up through the ranks and I suppose he’d be someone who knows the experience of the average [garda] member because he’s lived that experience.” Other sources said he was regarded as a “real police man” and someone who had a track record in crime investigation rather than “gimmick police work”.
Kelly is a married man with children and cut his teeth as a rank-and-file garda in some of Dublin’s busiest stations. He is best known for his involvement in policing operations to combat serious organised crime.
Last year, in an attempt to strengthen ties between the Garda and international law enforcement, Kelly went to Colombia. He ventured into the jungle with police commandos to view coca crops and just-discovered cocaine production facilities. He has also been to Dubai to build relationships with its police there, as the force continues to pursue the Kinahan cartel’s leaders and other Irish drug dealers.
He began his career policing the streets of Dublin while attached to Garda stations in Clondalkin, Blanchardstown and Tallaght. Once he was promoted for the first time – from the rank of garda to sergeant – his ascent up the ranks was rapid. He has also accrued diverse experience in policing and academia.
Kelly’s early years as a manager in the force were as an inspector, leading uniformed frontline gardaí in Clondalkin and Blanchardstown . He also spent time as a detective inspector at the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau which is a hands-on role where he would have managed investigations and on-the-ground operations involving surveillance, intelligence gathering, in addition to search–and-arrest operations.
In 2001, he was seconded to work for the United Nations in Bosnia Herzegovina, where he helped build the capacity of local law enforcement in the aftermath of the Balkan War.
As a detective superintendent, he managed the Garda National Protective Services Bureau which investigates crimes involving vulnerable victims, including sexual offences and domestic violence. At the rank of chief superintendent, both in uniform and as detective, he was leader of the Special Detective Unit, the force’s counterterrorism squad.
When appointed to the rank of assistant commissioner, he was in charge of the Garda’s serious and organised crime branch – one of the most pressurised positions in operational policing. In that role, which he filled until last October, he was in charge of most of the Garda specialist units that tackle crimes as varied as drug trafficking, gang feuding, fraud, cybercrime and immigration, among others.
He was appointed to the rank of deputy commissioner – in charge of security, strategy and governance – just nine months ago, but has now already left that rank behind and secured the top job for which he was seen as the clear favourite from the moment it was confirmed he had applied for the role.
Kelly has a law degree from University College Dublin, a Master’s of Criminal Justice from the John Jay College, New York, an MBA from Dublin City University and a Master’s of Serious Crime Investigation from the University of Limerick.
