Brigadier General Ray Murphy who has recently taken up the position of the Military Representative to the European Union and NATO PfP, was commissioned into the Infantry Corps in 1988.
Military Service
Since then, he has served in a broad range of appointments from Platoon to Battalion Commander both in Ireland and on overseas deployments. In addition, he gained experience as a staff officer working in Defence Forces’ Operations Directorate and separately in the Training & Education Directorate. His training experience was complemented by a posting to the Irish Defence Forces’ Officer Training Academy (The Cadet School) where he served from 2007 until 2010.
Brigadier General Murphy’s experience in the arena of international relations started in 2013, when he served as an Assistant Military Representative to the EU Military Committee in Brussels for three years. Then, from 2019 until 2021, he served as an advisor to the Irish CHOD on European Security matters, on Irish involvement with NATO / PfP, as well as military involvement with the United Nations. Most recently, from 2022 until 2024 he worked as the Chief of the J7 Branch within the EU’s Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC).
Overseas Service
Brigadier General Murphy has a wide range of overseas experience from the tactical up to the strategic levels, serving across a broad spectrum of operational environments. These experiences include three tours of duty in UNIFIL- Lebanon (1992, 1995 and 2021), initially within the Irish Battalion and most recently as the Deputy Sector Commander of Sector West and Senior National Representative. In INTERFET – East Timor (1999) he served as a Special Forces Detachment Commander before deploying to MONUC – Democratic Republic of the Congo (2003) as a UN Military Observer. The deployments to KFOR - Kosovo (2006) and UNDOF - Syria (2018) were as a Company Commander and Irish Group Commander before assuming the role as Chief J7 MPCC – Brussels in 2022.
Education
Brigadier General Murphy holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Galway and a Master’s degree in Leadership, Management and Defence Studies from the University of Maynooth.
Personal
He is married to Patricia, they have four children and they live in Blessington, County Wicklow. He enjoys reading, watching sports and trying to keep himself fit.
