SENIOR officers, rank and file gardaí and the people of Kerry have turned out in force to pay tribute to Chief Superintendent Pat Sullivan – the top garda in the county – who retired this Saturday after a long and distinguished career.
Close on 500 people attended a reception in the Ballygarry House Hotel in Tralee on Friday to honour the very popular officer who has spent close on 40 years in the force, with the vast majority of his service in Kerry.
The special guests were Deputy Garda Commissioner Donall Ó Cualáinn and Assistant Commissioners John O’Mahoney, Derek Byrne and Fintan Fanning.
Warm tributes were paid to Chief Supt Sullivan who asked that the coffee morning gathering be used as a fundraiser for Kerry Hospice.
A native of Glengarriff in west Cork, he graduated from Templemore in 1975 and he spent four years working on security along the border.
Though he also served in Limerick, the majority of his time in the gardaí has been spent in Kerry where he was stationed in Cahersiveen and Killarney before his move to Tralee Garda Station.
During his time at the helm, Chief Supt Sullivan led a number of high profile cases, including murders and killings, numerous high profile drug investigations and the suppression of a nasty traveller feud.
The identity of the new Chief Superintendent for the Kerry Garda Division has not yet been revealed.
