merrion street

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Major General Michael Beary as the Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Major General Beary succeeds Major General Luciano Portolano of Italy, who will complete his assignment in mid July 2016.

The Minister of State with Special Responsibility for Defence, Mr. Paul Kehoe, T.D., has warmly welcomed the appointment. The Minister stated: “I have had the pleasure of working closely with Major General Beary over the past five years benefiting from the wealth of experience which he brought to his previous roles.”

The Minister added “Major General Beary will bring extensive command and peacekeeping experience to the post and I have no doubt but that he will serve with distinction in this important position. It has been thirty years since an Irish person has held this post and I want to warmly congratulate him and his family on this great occasion.”

Major General Beary has a wide range of previous overseas experience including three deployments in South Lebanon with UNIFIL and has served as Company Commander and Staff Officer in UNIFIL HQ Operations Branch. He served as Mission Commander in EUTM Somalia from 2011 to 2013 where he commanded a multinational force from 12 EU Member States who were tasked with training military forces for the Somali Government. He is currently serving as the General Officer Commanding 2 Brigade.

Major General Beary was born in Ireland in 1956.

ENDS


Notes for Editor
Ireland’s participation in UNIFIL
Ireland has participated in United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in various guises since its establishment in 1978. Ireland previously held the post of Force Commander UNIFIL from 1981 - 1986 (Lt Gen William (Bill) Callaghan).

A Defence Forces battalion served for 23 years with the mission until it was withdrawn in 2001. Ireland again deployed a contingent of 158 personnel to Lebanon in 2006, for a period of 12 months, with a Finnish Engineering company when the UNIFIL Force was significantly expanded under UN Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006) of 11 August, 2006, following an escalation of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon.
Following a request from the United Nations in 2010, a contingent of Defence Forces has been deployed to UNIFIL since mid-2011. Currently, Ireland serves as part of a joint Finnish/Irish Battalion. The UNIFIL mission continues to represent Ireland’s largest overseas deployment.