Views on the management of the ESB expressed by directors in a canvass are thought not to support its chief executive, Mr Ken O'Hara.

The directors are expected to discuss Mr O'Hara's position at a board meeting next Tuesday.

The canvass by the State power company's new chairman, Mr Tadhg O'Donoghue, is believed to be nearing conclusion. It may lead to a confidence vote when the directors meet, though this has been described as a "definitive" option.

There was no comment last night from Mr O'Hara's spokesman when contacted.

With certain board and management members believed to be unhappy with the ESB's performance, the atmosphere at senior levels within the company is said to be tense.

A letter to the board from the company's trade unions last month, which criticised management, prompted directors to decide against pursuing a part-flotation in the short term. That decision was a setback to Mr O'Hara, who championed the flotation plan.

He was further damaged when a crucial deal to transform work practices of its network technicians was rejected by a large majority of workers at that grade.

Those critical of Mr O'Hara are also unhappy with slow progress in negotiations to reduce the company's workforce by a quarter, to 6,000 from 8,000.

Well-informed sources cited a perception that unions had "too much responsibility" in the implementation of a tripartite agreement between the ESB, its unions and the Department of Public Enterprise.

Because it was inevitable that ESB would lose market share in this process, certain senior figures are understood to have argued that the company should have sold the generation plant to gear up for competition. Under Mr O'Hara, the ESB has sought vigorously to protect its market share in the liberalising market.