Ennis man appointed  Assistant Chief of Staff

Ennis native, Brigadier General Adrian Ó Murchú has taken up his appointment as Assistant Chief of Staff (ACOS) following the retirement of previous ACOS, Brigadier General Peter O’Halloran.

Brigadier General Ó Murchú joined the Permanent Defence Forces in 1982 as a member of the 59^thCadet Class and was commissioned as an officer into the infantry corps in 1984.

Prior to joining the Defence Forces, Brigadier General Ó Murchú spent several years in the Army Reserve (22^ndInfantry Battalion FCA) in his home town of Ennis.

On commissioning, Brigadier General Ó Murchú served in the 6^thInfantry Battalion, the Army Ranger Wing (Ireland’s Special Operations unit), Military Intelligence and the Military College’s Infantry School.

Later appointments included Company Commander and Second in Command of the 5thInfantry Battalion, Chief Instructor of the Cadet School, Head of European Security Section in Operations and Plans Branch Defence Forces Headquarters (DFHQ), School Commandant of the UN Training School Ireland and Commanding Officer of the Defence Force’s Central Medical Unit.

His most recent appointment has been as Director of Strategic Planning Branch, in which appointment he also acted as Senior Staff Officer to the Chief of Staff.

Brigadier General Ó Murchú’s overseas experience includes tours of duty with the United Nations in UNIFIL (South Lebanon), UNOSOM II (Somalia), MINURSO (Western Sahara), UNTSO (Israel and Syria) and ONUCI (Ivory Coast).

He has deployed twice with the EU – as Chief Intelligence Analyst with the Headquarters of EUFOR Tchad/RCA in Eastern Chad and more recently for two years in Brussels as Military Assistant to the Chairman of the EU Military Committee.