BRIGADIER GENERAL ROSSA Mulcahy has been appointed as the new Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces.

Brigadier General Mulcahy is the Assistant Chief of Staff and will take over from the current Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Seán Clancy, later this year.

Lieutenant General Clancy will leave his current role to become the Chair of the European Union Military Committee (EUMC) on 1 June.

The EUMC is the highest military body within the EU and was established in January 2001.

The committee directs all military activity by the EU with particular attention for union military activities with the Common Security and Defence Policy.

File image of Lt Gen Seán Clancy, who will become chair of the EUMC on 1 June Irish Defence Forces Irish Defence Forces

Tánaiste and Defence Minister Simon Harris nominated Brigadier General Mulcahy for the role and this recommendation was accepted this morning at Cabinet.

Harris said he looks forward to working closely with Brigadier General Mulcahy in the future.  

“My priorities are to continue the transformation of the Defence Forces to ensure that it is a fit-for-purpose organisation to defend the State and meet the challenges we face now and into the future,” added Haris.

In July 2024, the Government approved legislation to provide for the reform of high-level Command and Control of the Defence Forces.

This will include the creation of a new position of Chief of Defence with military command and control authority of the Defence Forces.  

At that stage, the position of Chief of Staff will no longer exist. 

This reform will have no impact on the Constitutional role of the President as Supreme Commander of the Irish Defence Forces, with the Minister for Defence retaining the right to command the Defence Forces on behalf of the Government.

Brigadier General Mulcahy’s appointment as Chief of Staff is for a minimum period of two years and won’t exceed five years.

On its establishment, he will be eligible to apply for the new position of Chief of Defence.

Brigadier General Mulcahy has experience in a variety of roles across the Defence Forces, as well as deployments with the United Nations and NATO.

His overseas experience includes three deployments to Lebanon with UNIFIL, two years on deployment to Syria and Lebanon with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), and deployment as Irish National Senior at NATO’s Resolute Support mission in Kabul, Afghanistan.

He took up his appointment as Assistant Chief of Staff in October 2021.

He also previously served as Director of Communications and Information Services, with cyber systems being one of his areas of responsibility.

Brigadier General Mulcahy has served in all of the Communications and Information Services Units within the Army.