The second woman to achieve the rank of assistant Garda commissioner was appointed today.
Noirin O'Sullivan will take up her new post on July 31st, replacing Assistant Commissioner Gerry Kelly, who is retiring at the end of the month. She will assume responsibility for the Western region from Tuesday and will be based in Limerick city.
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Brian Lenihan today said Ms O'Sullivan's appointment was a "significant achievement" because she is the second female to achieve the senior ranking position.
In 2003, assistant commissioner Catherine Clancy was promoted to the senior rank and took charge of human resource management. There are only nine officers at assistant commissioner level within the force, all reporting directly to commissioner Noel Conroy.
From county Dublin, Ms O'Sullivan has held several positions in Dublin and Tipperary since joining the force in 1981. She has worked for the Central Detective Unit (Drugs) at Harcourt Square in Dublin and at the Garda National Drugs Unit in Dublin Castle.
Following her promotion to chief superintendent, she has worked since 2003 in the human resource field at the Garda Headquarters in the Phoenix Park and, more recently, in the Garda Technical Bureau.