Revenue Commissioners chairwoman appointed to head Policing Authority

The Government has appointed the outgoing chairman of the Revenue Commissioners, Josephine Feehily, as the new chairwoman of the Policing Authority. Ms Feehily's first task in her new position will be to assist in the selection of the next Garda commissioner, a post currently filled on a interim basis by Nóirín O'Sullivan.

Meanwhile, Police Service of Northern Ireland assistant chief constable Alistair Finlay has emerged as one of the candidates shortlisted for the final interviews for the commissioner post, senior security sources said last night.

Mr Finlay is a Scottish-born officer who was appointed PSNI assistant chief constable in 2008. Earlier this year he took on the role of acting deputy chief constable when Judith Gillespie retired as deputy chief constable. He reverted to his assistant chief constable position when Drew Harris was appointed to the deputy post.

Mr Finlay, who did not apply for the deputy PSNI job, would be viewed as a leading candidate considering his experience. It may also help his prospects that he was not working in Northern Ireland when the RUC was in existence.

He has been a police officer since 1982 and was responsible for managing the huge policing operation during the successful G8 summit of world leaders in Northern Ireland in July 2013.

Ms Feehily’s new role will also see her take control of establishing the Policing Authority, which is still at a fledgling stage and will not be fully operational for some months. The heads of the Bill providing for the new authority were published last week. The authority will bring a further layer of public accountability to the administration of policing services and act as a buffer between politics and policing.

Ms Feehily will complete her term as Revenue Commissioners chairwoman in January. She has held the post since 2008. She is a previous commissioner in the Revenue Commissioners and also a former assistant secretary with the body.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties has expressed “surprise and regret” that the Government has chosen to “short-circuit” best practice on public appointments by directly nominating Ms Feehily.

Council director Mark Kelly said: "The new Policing Authority must not only be, but be seen to be, wholly independent and impartial. This requires that its members and chair be appointed through a completely independent recruitment process, during which experts rigorously test the merits of candidates against agreed competencies.

“The ICCL is therefore surprised and disappointed that it has chosen deliberately to short-circuit best practice in public-sector appointments by agreeing to appoint the chair designate of the Policing Authority solely on the recommendation of the Minister for Justice.”