Ben is the son of Mary "Maisie"
Tinneny of Quivvy, Belturbet, County Cavan, Ireland and Michael
Brady. He was born in Liverpool, England and raised there and
in Ireland. After completing his education in County Monaghan
he served in the Irish Army from 1984 to 1987. After an
assignment In Ireland to the Army barracks in County Monaghan, he
served with the United Nations Peace Keeping Force in Lebanon.
During that time the barracks that housed his contingent was
sabotage. One evening, a saboteur successfully got past the
barracks security and attached explosive charges to the pilings on
which the barrack stood. Fortunately, only the charge that was
attached to one of the pilings detonated, the others
malfunctioned. The explosion caused severe damage and injured
some of the troops.
