New chief of staff of Defence Forces appointed

THE GOVERNMENT has announced the appointment of Maj Gen Seán McCann as the new chief of staff of the Defence Forces. He will assume the position on the retirement of Chief of Staff Lieut Gen Dermot Earley on Sunday.

Minister for Defence Tony Killeen congratulated Maj Gen McCann on his appointment and said he looked forward to working closely with him.

Mr Killeen also thanked Lieut Gen Earley for his years of service to the State saying he had made a “truly remarkable contribution” to public life.

“The leadership, professionalism and dedication shown by him has brought great honour on the Defence Forces and on this nation as a whole,” he said.

Maj Gen McCann’s promotion to the most senior position within the Defence Forces was approved by the Government yesterday on Mr Killeen’s recommendation.

Maj Gen McCann, who will now lead the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps, said he was “proud and honoured” to be chosen to lead the Defence Forces.

“I intend to ensure the organisation continues to develop the skills and capabilities necessary to meet the increasingly complex challenges of the security environment both at home and overseas.”

Maj Gen McCann paid tribute to Lieut Gen Earley who he said had made “an enormous contribution” to the Defence Forces during a “long and distinguished” career over 44 years. Lieut Gen Earley has been ill for some time and has been on an extended period of leave from the Defence Forces.

Maj Gen McCann (59) is originally from Cork but grew up in Co Tipperary. He now lives in Newbridge, Co Kildare. He is married with two sons, one of whom is an officer in the Defence Forces.

Educated in Thurles CBS and the Cistercian College Roscrea, Maj Gen McCann is a graduate of University College Galway and the United States Command and General Staff College.

He enlisted in the Defence Forces in 1970 and following his commissioning as an officer in 1972 served in a number of cavalry units in Plunkett Barracks on the Curragh, Co Kildare.

Maj Gen McCann has served on a wide variety of overseas missions over the past three decades.

He served with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon in 1981 and 1987. He was senior operations officer with the UN Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission in 1991.

He served in Sarajevo with the European Union Monitoring Mission in 2000 and in 2002 was chief of Observer Group Lebanon, part of the UN’s truce supervisory organisation.

Maj Gen McCann has been the deputy chief of staff in charge of operations since 2009 with responsibility for all operational activities for the Defence Forces.