One of the most sensitive posts in the Republic’s policing and security community now looks certain to pass by default to a North American. The move will mean the three most senior posts in the Garda, that of Garda commissioner and the two deputy commissioner roles, will be held by people from outside the Republic.
The Irish Times has learned no new recruitment contest is planned at present to replace Deputy Commissioner Annie Marie McMahon. She is deputy commissioner in charge of policing and security and is due to retire in mid-March.
Instead of replacing Ms McMahon when her post becomes vacant, her role is due to be taken on by Deputy Commissioner Shawna Coxon in a double-jobbing arrangement.
A Canadian and former deputy police chief in Toronto, Ms Coxon joined the Garda in April 2021. She is currently Garda deputy commissioner in charge of strategy, governance and performance, with no responsibility for crime and security issues.
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The move for a North American, or anyone from outside the State, to take up the key policing and security role in the Garda will be controversial as the post is the most sensitive in the force. It oversees all operations, and intelligence, in relation to State security, protecting the Government, anti-terrorism, counter-intelligence and organised crime.
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Cathal Berry TD (Ind), a former head of the Army Ranger Wing, said the planned arrangement involving Ms Coxon was “far from ideal”. In the international community, he said, the norm was for each country to have one of their own citizens holding key state security and intelligence roles. He added “an Irish person would not be appointed to the same role in Canada”.
Mr Berry urged the Department of Finance to resolve the problems around finding a new permanent deputy commissioner. However, he added Canada was a “trusted brand” in the international security community while Ms Coxon was “already in a Garda uniform”. She could be accepted as an “interim solution” for a period of months, though this was “not ideal”.
Ms McMahon’s deputy commissioner’s role was advertised last year as her retirement date approached. However, none of the serving assistant commissioners in the Garda applied for the job in a dispute over pension taxes. The recruitment competition was discontinued in recent weeks.
The assistant commissioners are concerned when they retire they will face a very large tax liability. The standard funds threshold (SFT) allows high earners – across all jobs in the private and public sector – to accumulate up to €2 million in a pension before being subject to an effective tax rate of about 72 per cent on the excess.
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The Department of Finance is reviewing the SFT, though that process is only expected to be completed in the summer, at which point it will have to be analysed before changes, if any, take place.
Informed sources told The Irish Times no effort would be made to run another deputy commissioner contest until after the SFT review was completed. That means finding a new deputy commissioner from within the ranks of the Garda may run into next year, with Ms Coxon set to provide interim cover and hold both roles.
As a result, once Ms McMahon retires in mid-March, the three most senior roles in the Garda will be held by two people: Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, a former senior PSNI officer from Northern Ireland; and Ms Coxon.
In reply to queries, Garda Headquarters said it would not comment on succession plans in the force. “An Garda Síochána does not comment on such matters in advance of individual office-holders retiring,” it said.
The Department of Justice said “a date for the launch of a new competition” to recruit a deputy commissioner “has not yet been set”. However, the timing of that competition “will likely be informed by the SFT review currently under way by the Department of Finance”.
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