A HUMAN rights expert has been nominated to become Ireland’s first police ombudsman.
Emily Logan has been recommended for the role by Ireland’s Justice Minister Helen McEntee, with the appointment due to take effect later this year.
Ms Logan is currently a member of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) and previously served as chief commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission from 2014 until 2019, and as Ireland’s first ombudsman for children from 2003 until 2014.
Born in Limerick, and raised in Dublin, Ms Logan initiatlly trained as a nurse and spent more than a decade working at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London before returing to Ireland.
Ms Logan will take up her new post once the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024 is enacted later this year.
“We have taken an important step today in recommending Emily Logan for appointment as the first Police Ombudsman under the new governance and oversight landscape for policing services that I am establishing under the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024.” Minister McEntee explained.
“Ms Logan will be appointed as Police Ombudsman by the President when I commence the Act later this year and reconstitute GSOC as Fiosrú – the Office of the Police Ombudsman, with an expanded remit for investigating allegations of wrongdoing by Garda members,” she added.
“As current GSOC Commissioner, a former Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, and Ireland’s first Ombudsman for Children, Emily Logan is eminently qualified to perform the role of Police Ombudsman and the Government was pleased to support her nomination.
“I wish her all the best for her appointment later this year.”