The new Chief Superintendent of the joint Clare and Tipperary Garda Division has been appointed.
The change, announced as part of a new Garda Operating Model, was due to come into affect more than two years ago, but was paused on account of the pandemic, as Clare FM’s Fiona Cahill reports.
The amalgamation of the Clare and Tipperary Garda Divisions was due to take place in April 2020, as part of a major overhaul of the garda.
It followed a recommendation from the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland the previous year, that the number of Garda divisions across the country be reduced from 28 to 19.
The process was paused during the pandemic, however, with an Garda Síochána saying at the time that it was due to “the urgent need to protect public health and safety during the Covid-19 crisis”.
An Garda Síochána has today confirmed appointments and allocations of Chief Superintendents and Superintendents, as well as an update on appointments under the new Garda Operating Model.
Chief Superintendent Colm O’Sullivan has been assigned responsibility for the new division covering both Clare and Tipperary and will be based at the headquarters in Ennis from Monday next.
He’s transferring from Cork, having previously served as Superintendent in Ennistymon for a period from 2010.
Current Chief Superintendent Sean Colleran, who has been based based in Ennis since 2021, has been appointed Regional Chief Superintendent of the North Western Region, based at Monaghan Garda Station.
Meanwhile, Chief Superintendent Derek Smart moves from Tipperary back to the Limerick Garda Division.
Under the new operating model, Superintendents will be dispersed throughout Divisions with responsibility for different areas of policing including Crime, Governance and Performance Assurance, and Community Engagement.
In a statement to Clare FM, an Garda Síochána says “the merger, in accordance with the Operating Model, has not yet been completed”.
