Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald has announced the membership of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland.
The independent commission is tasked with examining the structure of An Garda Síochána, the culture and ethos, recruitment, training and management.
Oversight and accountability in the force will be examined as will whether the Policing Authority and the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) should be given more powers will also form part of the scope of the inquiry.
The commission, chaired by Seattle’s chief of police Kathleen O’Toole, is expected to report by September 2018.
“The individuals who make up the commission have impressive track records in their respective fields,” Ms Fitzgerald. “The membership seeks to strike the right balance between domestic and international perspectives and between academic, operational policing, community and victims’ perspectives, change management, governance and indeed Government experience.”
Kathleen O'Toole (chairperson): Ms O'Toole is the current Chief of the Seattle Police Department. She held the position of Chief Inspector of the Garda Inspectorate between 2006 and 2012. Prior to that, she was the Commissioner of the Boston Police.
Noeleen Blackwell: Ms Blackwell is a human rights lawyer and the chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre. She was previously the director general of the Free Legal Advice Centre (FLAC).
Conor Brady: Mr Brady is a former editor of The Irish Times and The Sunday Tribune. He was a Gsoc commissioner from 2005 to 2011. He has written extensively on the history of An Garda Síochána and has served as a visiting professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.
Dr Johnny Connolly: Dr Connolly is Irish Research Council enterprise scholar at the Centre for Crime, Justice and Victim Studies at the School of Law in the University of Limerick. He has previously worked and researched in the areas of social work and social policy, alcohol and drugs. He is a board member of the Irish Penal Reform Trust.
Dr Vicky Conway: Dr Conway is a law lecturer in the School of Law and Governance in DCU where she teaches criminal law and criminology. She is a leading researcher on policing in Ireland. Dr Conway has previously been a board member of the Committee on the Administration of Justice in Northern Ireland.
Tim Dalton: Mr Dalton is a retired secretary general of the Department of Justice. He was also previously a member of a working group aimed at reviewing the direct provision system for asylum seekers in 2014.
Sir Peter Fahy: Mr Fahy has served in five police forces in the UK, spending five years as chief constable of Cheshire and eight years in the same role with Greater Manchester Police. When he left policing in November 2015 he became chief executive of the street children's charity Retrak. He is an honorary professor at the University of Manchester.
Dr Eddie Molloy: Mr Molloy is an independent management consultant. He specialises in strategy, large-scale organisation change and innovation. He has worked in a range of sectors ranging from high-tech multinational companies to civil service departments and religious orders. He is director of advanced organisation and honorary consul for Barbados in Ireland.
Tonita Murray: Ms Murray is an international police development consultant who previously worked in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). She has specialised in police reform, policy development, training, leadership and management.
Dr Antonio Oftelie: Dr Oftelie conducts research, teaches and advises on law, policy and technology at Harvard University. He also advises senior government and business executives on organisational transformation.
Prof Donncha O'Connell: Prof O'Connell is a professor of law at the School of Law, NUI Galway. He is also a commissioner of the Law Reform Commission and was for four years a board member of the Legal Aid Board. From 1999 until 2002, Prof O'Connelll was the first full-time Director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL).
Helen Ryan: Ms Ryan is a former chief executive of Creganna-Tactx Medical, a global supplier to the medical device industry. She is a fellow of the Institute of Engineers of Ireland and a member of the boards of Enterprise Ireland and of the Galway University Foundation.
