Nóirín O'Sullivan

In October 2018, O’Sullivan was appointed as UN Assistant Secretary-General for Safety and Security.

The first woman to lead the Gardaí in its 92-year history, O'Sullivan announced her retirement on 10 September 2017.

In late October 2017 she was appointed Director of Strategic Partnerships for Europe at the International Association of Chiefs of Police. In October 2018, O'Sullivan was appointed by Secretary-General of the UN as UN Assistant Secretary-General for Safety and Security.

On 10 September 2017, O’Sullivan announced her decision to retire effective from midnight.

O'Sullivan was mentioned in the 2017 Prime Time special broadcast concerning the Garda whistleblower scandal, and her response to the Garda whistleblower scandal was included in the scope of inquiry for the first module of the Disclosures Tribunal.

In March 2017, it was announced that 14,700 people were wrongly convicted of motoring offences after they weren't given the opportunity to pay a Fixed Charge Notice. Also, almost one million phantom breath tests were recorded on the Garda Pulse system, with figures claiming that 1,995,369 tests were carried out with only 1,061,381 actually taking place.

On 10 September 2017, O'Sullivan announced her decision to retire effective from midnight, stating that the "unending cycle of requests, questions, instructions and public hearings", which she described as "all part of a new – and necessary – system of public accountability", nevertheless left her with too little time to carry out such tasks as reforming the Garda Síochána "and meeting the obvious policing and security challenges". She informed Department of Justice secretary general Noel Waters, who spoke to Minister for Justice Charles Flanagan, and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

In late October 2017 the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) announced that Nóirín O’Sullivan had been nominated as the newly-created role of Director of Strategic Partnerships for Europe, to begin work later in 2017 and to be based in Ireland, the first time a member of the IACP's staff has been based outside the United States, as part of the IACP's aim to "further expand its global reach and representation".

In 2015, O'Sullivan was awarded UCD Alumnus of the Year for Business.

She became Deputy Commissioner of Operations in 2011 and oversaw some of the most high profile VIP visits to the State. In March 2014, O’Sullivan was appointed interim Commissioner and following an international competition, she was appointed on a permanent basis, by the Government on 25 November 2014, becoming the first female Commissioner to head the force since its foundation in 1922.

O’Sullivan was appointed Garda Commissioner on an interim basis after the resignation of Martin Callinan on 25 March 2014. She formally took over the role of Commissioner on a permanent basis following her appointment by the Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald on 25 November 2014, becoming the first female Commissioner to head the force since its foundation in 1922.

In June 2009, she was appointed Assistant Commissioner in charge of the Crime and Security Branch (CSB), with responsibility for Ireland's domestic state security and intelligence functions. In this role she had responsibility for elite, specialist national units such as the Special Detective Unit, Emergency Response Unit and National Surveillance Unit.

O'Sullivan was promoted to Assistant Commissioner in 2007, and served in the Western Region, followed by Human Resource Management.

In 2000, she was promoted to Superintendent and served in the Garda Síochána College with responsibility for specialist training. She also worked as a Detective Superintendent in the Garda National Drugs Unit (GNDU). In 2003, she was promoted to Chief Superintendent and served as Detective Chief Superintendent at the Garda Technical Bureau and Human Resource Management.

O'Sullivan is from Dublin, and joined the Garda Síochána in 1981. She worked her way through the ranks of the Garda Siochana and during her 36 years service, she held various managerial and leadership positions.

Nóirín O'Sullivan (born 3 November 1960) is an Irish Garda who has served as Director of Strategic Partnerships for Europe at the International Association of Chiefs of Police since October 2017. She previously served as Garda Commissioner from 2014 to 2017. In October 2018, Nóirín was appointed UN Assistant Secretary-General for the Department of Safety and Security.