Chief of Staff faces scrutiny over claim he never experienced abuses exposed by Women of Honour
The report’s authors acknowledged there were many talented and committed men and women serving in the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps. However, they also made clear the problems were cultural – running through, and perpetuated by, the Defence Forces for years. This was not about bad apples that needed to be found and removed. It was about the fabric of the organisation.
For his part, Lieut Gen Clancy also said he accepted the IRG report. He was “not afraid of if” and viewed it as an opportunity for reform. That change process, he said, was clearly needed and he was fully committed to it. He also accepted he and his senior staff needed external, civilian expertise to help execute the change required.
Other sources said many personnel in the Army resented the fact Vice Admiral Mellett, a former head of the Naval Service, had become chief of staff in 2015 in advance of candidates from the Army. They added the same resentment, from some quarters, applies to Lieut Gen Clancy. In the Army, the sources said, candidates from the Naval Service or Air Corps for the post of chief of staff were regarded as having less experience, especially in governance, than their colleagues in the Army.
A married father of three from Mitchelstown, Cork, he joined the Defence Forces as a cadet in 1984 after his Leaving Cert. He spent most of his career in the Air Corps as a helicopter pilot, in search and rescue. He was appointed general officer commanding the Air Corps in 2017. Some sources said his promotion from commanding the Air Corps to Defence Forces deputy chief of staff in charge of support was an unconventional promotion.
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