Ciarán Fitzgerald, the director responsible for sectors and trade federations within Ibec, will leave the employers' group at the end of September.

Ibec staff heard last week Mr Fitzgerald was leaving "to pursue a number of business interests".

Mr Fitzgerald said that he was evaluating a number of business options in the food sector and should know by the end of the month what he will do.

"Since I said I was moving on from Ibec, I have been lucky enough to have some opportunities emerge," he added.

Mr Fitzgerald is one of Ibec's most senior executives and one of the group's seven executive board members.

He joined the association in 1984 as an executive in the Irish Meat Industry Association. He was appointed as director of Ibec's Food and Drink Federation in 1993 and then became a "director of sectors" in 2001.

Over the course of his career, Mr Fitzgerald has developed a significant public persona, most notably for his defence, on Ibec's behalf, of the Groceries Order, which prevents below-cost selling in certain sectors.

He has repeatedly argued that the order is not the driver behind the Republic's high food prices.

Mr Fitzgerald was also at the forefront in Ibec's response to issues such as the BSE outbreaks of 1996 and 2000, and the foot and mouth crisis in 2001. As director, he led the formation of Ibec's Retail Ireland group.

News of Mr Fitzgerald's departure marks the second shift within Ibec's senior levels within the past month.

In mid-July, it emerged that economist Danny McCoy was leaving the Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI) to join Ibec as director of economic policy. Mr McCoy is taking up his new role, which is one of Ibec's most senior posts, following the retirement of outgoing director Brian Geoghegan.