By Linda McGrory
INISHOWEN gets a new Garda chief this week when
Derry-born Superintendent William Johnston takes
over at district headquarters in Buncrana.
Supt Johnston, who takes up his new post tomorrow,
is no stranger to Buncrana. His grandparents were
from the Dunree area while he and his siblings are
regular visitors there. Supt Johnston is a brother
of world-renowned cancer specialist Professor Paddy
Johnston, dean of the School of Medicine at Queen's
University and head of the Centre for Cancer
Research and Cell Biology in Belfast.
Supt Johnston, who is married with a family, joined
An Garda Síochána in 1982. He became a sergeant in
1990 and an inspector in 2003. He has previously
served in stations in Cavan, Donegal and Dublin.
He takes over the Buncrana District from Supt Paul
Glynn who was stationed in the peninsula for seven
months and now returns to his native county as
Superintendent of the Roscommon District. Before
Supt Glynn, Galway-born Supt Jimmy Coen was local
district commander for a year and a half. The
longest serving superintendent in Inishowen in
recent years was Supt Vincent O'Brien who was at the
helm for several years before returning to his
current posting in Letterkenny.
Meanwhile, rank and file Gardai in Buncrana and
wider Inishowen are looking forward to working with
their new boss, who is 49, and who arrives in the
locality from Garda headquarters in Dublin. |
