Kinahan cartel hunter unveiled as new Garda boss for Dublin
Colleagues say Dubliner Paul Cleary is extremely capable and well regarded at all levels in the force
A senior Garda who dismantled a Kinahan murder team is to take on one of the toughest jobs in the force – being in charge of policing Dublin.
Paul Cleary - who led the investigation into the Kinahan cartel’s July 2016 murder of Daithi Douglas that saw two men jailed for life – is to become the Garda Assistant Commissioner for the Dublin area, or DMR (Dublin Metropolitan Region).
The Dublin native, who is currently commissioner for the force’s eastern region based in Kilkenny, takes over responsibility for policing the capital on Monday. He replaces Angela Willis, who moves to take over all anti-gangland investigations.
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Commissioner Cleary is highly regarded in the force and previously led the Garda Cyber Crime Bureau. He has spent most of his career as a detective – and was involved in tackling drug gangs in the north inner city as a young officer.
But as a Detective Inspector, he led the Garda probe into the 2016 murder of Mr Douglas, 56 – a hit carried out as part of the Kinahan / Hutch feud that left 18 men dead. Two Kinahan killers were caged for life for that murder - and trial judge Mr Justice Tony Hunt described Commissioner Cleary’s investigation as “second to none”. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris hailed the Cleary investigation as “world class”.
Commissioner Cleary was also a detective superintendent in Blanchardstown, west Dublin. And he also spent time as an agent, or CHIS, handler and as a detective in the anti-terror Special Detective Unit.
Colleagues say the Dubliner is extremely capable and well regarded at all levels in the force. But they also said being the senior officer in Dublin is a tough job that is fraught with difficulties.
‘It's a really challenging job,” one source said. “Cleary is more than capable, but he will have his work cut out. Being Commissioner for the DMR is a really tough gig. It never stops and there is constant pressure from the media and politicians alike.”
Lee Canavan, 35, is serving life for the Douglas murder, along with another man who cannot be named for legal reasons.
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