A KILMURRY MCMAHON Garda has been forced to delay her retirement as Deputy Commissioner of An Garda Síochána.
Anne Marie McMahon had been due to retire as Deputy Commissioner on December 3rd. However, she has now agreed to remain in the role until spring time, for a further three or four months at least.
Lack of interest from senior gardaí in replacing the West Clare woman has been cited as the reason for her having to delay her departure from the force.
October 26th was the original closing date for applications through the Public Appointments Service, this was later extended to November 9th. The Sunday Independent has reported that a number of high-ranking gardai collectively decided not to apply for the job until some of their financial concerns involving issues about their pensions were addressed. The post of deputy commissioner policing and operations is usually a stepping stone for the office holder to become Garda commissioner. It carries a salary of around €190,000 a year.
McMahon became only the second woman in history to serve as Deputy Commissioner, she held the role in an acting capacity in 2020, following in the footsteps of Noirín O’Sullivan.
As Deputy Commissioner, Anne Marie is responsible for policing and national security operations including the fight against organised and gangland crime, terrorism and espionage. Rolling out the new operating model of An Garda Síochána which included the amalgamation of the Clare and Tipperary Garda Divisions were among her other responsibilities.
In April 2021, Canadian-born Shawna Cox was appointed Deputy Commissioner, she is in charge of non-operational issues.
Having joined the Gardaí in 1986, Anne Marie served in Coolock, Dublin, Henry Street, Limerick and with the United Nations in Cambodia during the early days of her career. She previously was Assistant Commissioner Southern Region from 2016 to 2020. Prior to this appointment, she was Director of Training and Development, Garda College in Templemore.
She has held a number of other senior roles in An Garda Síochána including Chief Superintendent of the Garda Community Relations Bureau and Superintendent in both Roxboro Road and Bruff and Inspector in Henry Street and Newcastle West, Co Limerick. She holds a MBS (Honours) Human Resource Management from the University of Limerick and a BA (Honours) in Police Management, Garda College. In 2014 she received a Diploma in Business and Executive Coaching (Distinction) Smurfit Business School.
