Miles O'Brien

Miles Edward O'Brien, played by Colm Meaney, is Chief of Operations in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Before DS9, he appeared as a recurring transporter chief in Star Trek: The Next Generation. O'Brien is the only major Star Trek character described as both ethnically Irish and born in Ireland. According to Colm Meaney, at first O'Brien "was just there, not really established as a character, and that went on for a bit." He can be seen as the battle bridge's Ops operator in the first episode (Encounter at Farpoint: TNG). Appearing on and off in more TNG episodes, it wasn't until the fourth season episode "Family" that Meaney's character was finally given a first name. However, Meaney came to like the arrangement of being hired on an...