New Chief of Staff to take up role this weekend

Lieutenant General Dermot Early is to retire from the Defence Forces due to ill health.

Major General Sean McCann will take over as new Chief of Staff. The 52-year-old Major General will take up his appointment on Sunday.

He lives in Newbridge, Co. Kildare. Major General McCann was born in Cork in 1950, and grew up in Tipperary where he was educated in Thurles CBS and in Cistercian College Roscrea.

He is married to Frances and they have two sons, one of whom is currently serving in the Defence Forces.