Michael Beary (born 1956) is a retired

Irish Army The Irish Army () is the land component of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Defence Forces of Republic of Ireland, Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. ...

major general and former head of mission and force commander of the

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (; ), or UNIFIL (; ) is a United Nations peacekeeping mission established on 19 March 1978 by United Nations Security Council Resolutions United Nations Security Council Resolution 425, 425 and Unit ...

(UNIFIL). Beary is the current leader of the United Nations Mission to support the Hudaydah Agreement, having retired from the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

Military career

Beary was commissioned as an officer in the

Infantry Corps Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

in 1975. Beary has held appointments as commanding officer of the Eastern Brigade Training Centre, in training, operations and

Military Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...

at Defence Forces Headquarters (DFHQ) and served as a Senior Instructor at the Command and Staff School, Military College,

Defence Forces Training Centre The Defence Forces Training Centre (DFTC) (, ''ATÓÉ'') is the principal training centre for the Irish Army and other branches of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces, headquartered at the Curragh Camp that serves to provide educa ...

(DFTC). In March 2009 Beary was promoted to the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

and appointed Director of Defence Forces Training with responsibility for education and training policy, the development of doctrine and liaison with external education and training agencies. In November 2013 and upon promotion to the rank of brigadier general, Beary was appointed general officer commanding the 2nd Brigade (Army).

Overseas appointments

Beary has served on three deployments to

Southern Lebanon Southern Lebanon () is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa districts, the southernmost distr ...

(1982, 1989, 1994) with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeeping mission, including as company commander and staff officer in the Operations Branch at UNIFIL HQ. He served in

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

and

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

as part of the

United Nations Iraq–Kuwait Observation Mission The United Nations Iraq–Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM) was established on April 9, 1991 following the Gulf War by Security Council Resolution 689 (1991) and fully deployed by early May 1991. The task of joint military observers was to mon ...

(UNIKOM). He served in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

with the

United Nations Protection Force The United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR; also known by its French acronym FORPRONU: ''Force de Protection des Nations Unies'') was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav War ...

(UNPROFOR). In 2003, Beary completed a four-month tour of duty as Liaison Team Leader with the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

-led

International Security Assistance Force The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 ac ...

(ISAF) HQ in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. Between September 2004 and 2007, Beary served for three years with the

European Union Military Staff The Military Staff of the European Union (EUMS) is the directorate-general of the European Union's (EU) External Action Service (EEAS) that contributes to the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) by providing strategic advice to the ...

(EUMS) Intelligence Division in Brussels while seconded to the

General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union The General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union (GSC), also known as Council Secretariat, assists the Council of the European Union, the presidency of the Council of the European Union, the European Council and the president of the ...

. Beary provided intelligence planning expertise in this role for EU military operations and civilian missions. From August 2011 to February 2013, Beary commanded the

European Union Training Mission Somalia The European Union Training Mission Somalia (EUTM Somalia) is a training mission for the Somali Armed Forces conducted by military officials from European Union States and Non-EU States. Operations On 7 April 2010, the European Union launched a ...

(EUTM Somalia), an EU

Common Security and Defence Policy The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is the European Union's (EU) course of action in the fields of defence and crisis management, and a main component of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The CSDP involves the de ...

(CSDP) mission to train

Somali Armed Forces The Somali Armed Forces are the military forces of the Federal Republic of Somalia. Headed by the president as commander-in-chief, they are constitutionally mandated to ensure the nation's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. I ...

in Uganda. On Friday, 27 May 2016,

Secretary-General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister ...

appointed Major General Beary as the head of mission and force commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, to succeed Major General

Luciano Portolano Luciano Antonio Portolano (born September 18, 1960) is an Italian Army general who currently serves as the Chief of the Defence Staff (Italy), Chief of the Defense Staff since 4 October 2024. Prior to his assumption to the post, General Portolano ...

of the

Italian Army The Italian Army ( []) is the Army, land force branch of the Italian Armed Forces. The army's history dates back to the Italian unification in the 1850s and 1860s. The army fought in colonial engagements in China and Italo-Turkish War, Libya. It ...

. Beary assumed command of UNIFIL on 19 July 2016. In August 2017, the

Trump administration Presidency of Donald Trump may refer to: * First presidency of Donald Trump, the United States presidential administration from 2017 to 2021 * Second presidency of Donald Trump, the United States presidential administration since 2025 See also * ...

Ambassador to the United Nations An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

Nikki Haley Nimarata Nikki Randhawa Haley (''née'' Randhawa; born January 20, 1972) is an American politician and diplomat who served as the 116th governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017 and as the 29th U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from Ja ...

accused Beary of being "blind" to a "massive flow of illegal weapons" to

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

in Southern Lebanon. She said Beary displayed "an embarrassing lack of understanding of what's going on." Beary responded by saying "if there was a large cache of weapons, we would know about it" and that if anyone had information to the contrary, that they should provide it to the UN.

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...

gave his full backing to Beary, as did the Irish government. The US or Israel did not provide any evidence to back up the claims.

Civilian career

In 2021, Beary took up the role of Head of the UN Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA), a civil observer mission overseeing the ceasefire in

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

. In December 2022, Beary survived a landmine explosion which hit the armoured UN 4X4 he was travelling in while in Yemen as part of his UNMHA role. The UN team were travelling with members of the

Houthi The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, is a Zaydi Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaydi Shias, with their namesake leadership being drawn largely ...

rebel group to oversee the decommissioning of explosives. A UN investigation was launched in order to determine whether the convoy was deliberately targeted.

Education

Beary received his second-level education at Patrician College,

Ballyfin Ballyfin ( or alternatively "town of Fionn") is a village and parish in the Slieve Bloom Mountains in County Laois, Ireland. It is around 8km west of Portlaoise, on the L21121 local road which joins the R423 regional road between Mountrath ...

, County Laois. He has a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree from

NUI Galway The University of Galway () is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Galway" (UCG) () from 1908 to 1997 and as ...

and is a graduate of the

Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School The UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School is the graduate business school of University College Dublin (UCD) and is located in Blackrock, Dublin, Ireland, on the site of the former teacher-training Carysfort College. Undergraduate bus ...

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

(UCD) holding a Master of Business Studies in organisational studies. He is a graduate of the Irish Defence Forces Command and Staff School, and a 2009 graduate of the

National War College In the United States, the National War College (NWC) is a school within the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. History The National ...

National Defense University National Defence (or Defense) University (or College) may refer to: :''Alphabetical by country'' University * Marshal Fahim National Defense University, Afghanistan * National Defense University (Azerbaijan) * People's Liberation Army National Defe ...

in Washington, D.C., from which he holds a Master of Science degree in National Security Studies.

Decorations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beary, Michael 1956 births Living people Alumni of the University of Galway Alumni of University College Dublin Irish Army generals Irish diplomats United Nations military personnel National War College alumni Irish officials of the United Nations Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Irish military personnel 21st-century Irish military personnel