'Victim centred policing is where we are going. It is an EU requirement and Ireland has to play its role in that'

After six years at the helm of the Meath Garda Division, Chief Superintendent Fergus Healy retires this week, bringing to an end a career in An Garda Siochana spanning 40 years.

Chief Supt Healy has worked in many areas of the police force as he moved up through the ranks and has seen many changes over the years but says the biggest gamechanger has been the advance in technology and communications which has had a huge impact on how Gardai do their job.

Major changes are currently under way in the management structure as the Garda Operating Model introduced by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris is rolled out and Chief Supt Healy has been leading its implementation in the county.

Covid stalled the plans but the majority of the changes are expected to be in place in the next 12 months. The new model will see a reduction in the number of Garda divisions from 28 to 19 which will see Meath amalgamated with Westmeath.

Indeed since 2019, Chief Supt Healy has also had responsibility for Westmeath Garda Division with his patch stretching a distance of some 140km from the outskirts of Drogheda town all the way to Athlone.

The thinking behind the new model is to move away from geographical policing and rather than each district having its own management team, there will be less districts and therefore less resources taken up in management.

Chief Supt Healy explained that the hierarchy is being reduced and more resources will be put into front line services. Superintendents will have portfolios rather than a geographical area.

Instead of four districts- Navan, Trim, Kells and Ashbourne- there will be just two- Meath North and Meath South.

It has been a big challenge but Chief Supt Healy feels it was needed to make the force fit for purpose going into the future.

"It will involve reorganisation of the management of all stations. Currently there are four management teams, now we are going to have one.

"Now that we are out the other side of Covid, we are in the process of putting together the infrastructure and are back working on the original plan to re-organise the divisions."

There will be six superintendents- three of them responsible for front line services- one for Meath North, one for Meath South, one for Westmeath.

Other portfolios include governance, community engagement and crime for the two counties.

There will be less superintendents but more inspectors who will be given more responsibilities. "The initial process is putting the administrative supports in place, then the other portfolios. It will be well advanced in the next 12 months."

The new model places additional emphasis on vulnerable victims.

"Victim centred policing is where we are going. It is an EU requirement and Ireland has to play its role in that."

Chief Supt Healy grew up in Navan until the age of 13 and his career has seen him come full circle with his appointment as Chief Superintendent of the Meath Garda Division in 2016, bringing him back to his home town.

Joining the Gardai when he was 20, Chief Supt Healy recalled that his first posting was to Pearse Street, Dublin, where he worked in uniform and detective duties. In 1989, he was promoted to sergeant and was transferred to the Garda College in Templemore working with the first batch of new recruits to complete the new two-year course.

"The newly promoted sergeants from the busy areas were brought in to knock the rough edges off the young gardai before they came out and to steer them in their last weeks of training," he recalled. In 1992, he was moved back to Dublin to Harcourt Square and then Pearse Street and was involved in policing of the new inner city development area of Templebar which quickly became the heart of Dublin's nightlife and nighttime economy. In 1999, he was promoted inspector to the HR department in Garda Headquarters, before being transferred to the then Deputy Commissioner Fachtna Murphy's office, who went on to be Garda Commissioner.

In 2005, Chief Supt Healy was promoted to superintendent and appointed to Cavan Town.

"At the time, Cavan was absolutely rocking. Sean Quinn was the main businessman and the town was booming. Houses were being built everywhere, garages were opening selling new cars. The Celtic Tiger was in full swing."

In March 2007, he was transferred back to Garda Headquarters, in charge of the crime and legal section which including extradition, legal matters and mutual assistance with other police forces. Among the cases he worked on there was that of French filmmaker Sophie Toscan Du Plantier.

In 2013 he was promoted to chief superintendent and was put in charge of crime security where his role was to liaise with the Department of Justice in introducing new legislation.

Then in 2016, he came to Meath as Chief Superintendent and says Meath had changed a lot by the time he returned.

"Meath was a very different place. When I left Navan, Tara Mines was in its infancy and when I came back it was a very sophisticated operation. I worked with them on major emergency plans and it gave a real insight into how the mines work."

"The other big change was that Navan had become a commuter town and the M3 was built. The population had jumped to 35,000 and growing to be the second largest growth town in the county in the 2016 cenus and the new census will show that it has grown again."

In terms of challenges, Chief Supt Healy said drugs is a big challenge for Gardai and communities across country.

"Drugs are a big challenge for communities. The saying goes that drugs are the root of all evil. It is a major challenge for society. The answer is all agencies pulling together to deal with it. The HSE on the demand side and Gardai on the supply side of the equation, working together."

He said they had already made inroads including dismantling the Kinahan crime gang which he said was a big success for Gardai and "a good news story".

Crime rates are on the rise again and Chief Supt Healy said crime is back to pre-covid levels and the challenges that were there before Covid are back.

One positive that did come out of Covid was the way the various agencies worked together.

"During the Covid crisis, inter-agency co-operation went to a new level. All the various sectors, the fire service with local authorities, the HSE, the Department of Education and schools, the army, ourselves. We had conference calls on a daily basis and really worked well together. It is something very positive to come out of the crisis.

"We started to use Skype and teams and digital technology that we take for granted now as we are two years using it, at the outset this was all new."

Chief Supt Healy praised gardai for their role during the crisis.

"Gardai on the ground did a fantastic job, particularly dealing with vulnerable people. Community Gardai in particular really stepped up to the plate and provided a valuable service to the community.

"It wasn't an easy thing to try to explain to people why they can't move around but it was a public health issue for the benefit of all society," adding that once it was explained people understood and he felt generally Gardai came out of the whole crisis in a positive light.

"Gardai are in a healthy place, their relationship with the community augers well for the future. There will always be challenges but we have to be adaptable and progress and then deal with the challenges," he said.

When asked what he would miss most, Chief Supt Healy said: "l'll miss the camaraderie. When you are in a job working 40 years you build up professional relationships with the people you work with and you leave all that behind and that will be a big adjustment for me. I will that on a day to day basis, but it is time for someone else to come in and take over responsibility. I won't miss the responsibility."

Chief Supt Healy retired on Monday and his last official engagement was the opening of Athlone's new garda station with Justice Minister Helen McEntee and Commissioner Drew Harris.

"I am going out on a positive note. A modern building with modern technology".

Chief Superintendent John Dollard has taken up office to replace Chief Supt Healy and will have responsibility for Meath and Westmeath. He will be based in Navan for now though Mullingar was identified as the headquarters for the amalgamated divisions as part of the roll out of the new operating model.