Galway Bay fm newsroom - The Justice Minister says he's pleased that Carna native Donal O Cualain is acting Garda Commissioner.
Noirin O'Sullivan retired from the post last night after a year of intense pressure to step away.
Acting commissioner O Cualain, a fluent-Irish speaker, was previously a sergeant on the Aran Islands before becoming a Superintendent and subsequently Chief Superintendent of the Galway garda division.
In 2012 he was appointed as an assistant commissioner and two years later Nóirín Ó Sullivan appointed him as deputy commissioner.
Dónal Ó Cualáin has already been covering the commissioner role for the summer holiday period while Nóirín Ó Sullivan was on leave.
The Justice Minister says Nóirín Ó Sullivan's decision didn't come as a surprise to him despite only getting an hours notice of her intention to retire.
Charlie Flanagan says it may be a lengthy process to select her replacement and it could even be months so he's pleased Deputy Commissioner O Cualain has stepped into the role in an acting capacity.
