NUIG Galway Law Professor Donncha O’Connell has been appointed to the Commission on Future of Policing in Ireland. The Commission on Future of Policing was founded recently following several controversies involving An Garda Síochána. The Commission is modeled on the Patten Commission on Policing in Northern Ireland. Kathleen O’Toole, the Chief of the Seattle Police Department and former Chief Inspector of the Garda Inspectorate, will be the chairperson of the commission. The other members of the commission are: Ms Noeline Blackwell, Ms Helen Ryan, Mr Tim Dalton, Sir Peter Fahy, Mr Conor Brady, Dr Eddie Molloy, Dr Johnny Connolly, Ms Tonita Murray, Dr Vicky Conway, and Dr aAntonio Oftelie.
Professor O’Connell is a part-time Commissioner of the Law Reform Commission. He joined the staff of NUI Galway in 1993 after completing study at NUI Galway, The Honorable Society of the King’s Inns, Dublin and the University of Edinburgh. In 1999, he became the first full-time Director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL). In 2002, he returned to NUI Galway.
Professor O’Connell had recently completed a four-year term as Head of the School of Law at NUI Galway. He has also served as a board member of the Legal Aid Board. He lives in
Moycullen and was earlier a member of the EU Network of Independent Experts on Fundamental Rights. The EU Network advised the EU Commission on a wide range of human rights issues.
“It is a great responsibility to be asked to serve on the Commission on the Future of Policing and I look forward to working with Kathleen O’Toole and the other members in an open-minded and rigorous manner so as to make credible and constructive proposals on the future of policing in Ireland,” Professor O’Connell said.
Professor O’Connell originally comes from Swinford, Co. Mayo.
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