William O'Callaghan (Irish Army officer)

He was born in Buttevant, County Cork[3] and joined the Irish Defence Forces at age 17 in 1939.[1]

He graduated from the Military College at Curragh Camp, County Kildare. He is most famous for being the Commanding Officer of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon from 1981 to 1986; a needed neutral United Nations Peacekeeping military command leadership during the Lebanese Civil War that hastened the various military, peacekeeping, and general tasks which led to the successful environment of the Multiforce.

O'Callaghan was a County Cork native who had the unique distinction of holding the 2 most important United Nations appointments in the Middle East and arguably the world during a particularly tumultuous period in the 1970s and 80s, when he was the Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) from February 1981 to May 1986 and the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO) from April 1978 to June 1979 and again from May 1986 to June 1987, commanding multinational troops in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt and Jordan.[1]

In 1981, with the escalation of hostilities, Irish Army Lt. Gen. William O'Callaghan exercised proper initiatives while delegating combat command of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) through his tactical command leadership of an assumed needed neutral United Nations peacekeeping force; throughout specially, the southern chaotically heated border and country during the Lebanese Civil War; maintained a stable affecting environment for Foreign Forces of the Multinational Force including French Foreign Legion and Lebanese Armed Forces deployed around Beirut and the majority of Southern Lebanon to accomplish their various security tasks and gave way for securing in a direct effect the success of numerous military operations, peacekeeping missions and general formalising initiatives.

In an interview in April 1982 with American magazine "People",[4] with UNIFIL having suffered 145 combat casualties in its previous 4 years, 35 of them fatalities, he said:

"Peacekeeping is not about firing shots. Its about not firing and stopping those who are. We must look for trouble at the 4 points of the compass, and then we look behind our backs.

Lieutenant General O'Callaghan was a recipient of the: