There is a diffidence about Mr David Begg, a natural courtesy and gentleness that is hard to reconcile with the succession of tough and dramatic changes in his career. Yet the fact remains that he has a formidable track record as an organiser, can be revolutionary in his approach to seemingly impossible problems and can make the most radical demands seem quite reasonable.

For instance, on the current spate of inter-union rows that have caused problems in high-profile companies such as Aer Lingus, Iarnrod Eireann and ACC, he suggests that congress should consider an Ombudsman system. Most decisions by workers to switch unions arise because they are unhappy about service rather than being actively poached by another union.

"The remedy would usually be for a union to improve its services and an Ombudsman system would be seen by everyone to be transparent and fair.

"For the same reason, I believe in regulation of the charity sector. Good performers will always do well," he says. Concern has certainly done well under his four-year stewardship. Annual income is up from £16 million (€20.3 million) to £42 million and the agency is no longer so dependent on "emergency income" generated by TV coverage of the latest tragedy. The agency has also expanded its operations from 14 countries to 27.

Begg's last act with Concern will be to conclude a partnership agreement with German, Dutch and Danish non-governmental organisations to make their work more effective, not just in terms of delivering services but advocacy with governments and other vested interests. While he confesses to some qualms of conscience about leaving Concern he says: "I don't have any worries about its future. Concern is in good shape."

He left his job as general secretary of the Communications Workers' Union (CWU) in 1997 after conceiving and opening negotiations on the employee share ownership scheme in Eircom. He is careful to point out that his successor, Mr Con Scanlon, and others also deserve credit for completing the deal. Today he says he would not have recommended the package if he had known the Government would sell its 30 per cent "golden share" and privatise the system completely. He is now leaving Concern for the same reason he left the CWU; a new "once-in-a-lifetime" challenge.

There is no doubt either that the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) is very glad to have him. When Mr Peter Cassells announced he was stepping down to head up the National Centre for Partnership and Productivity there were no obvious successors. Unlike some trade union leaders, Mr Begg is hard to pigeon-hole politically. "I'm a social democrat," he says. "I would be more influenced by Christian doctrine than Marxist doctrine."

Like Mr Cassells, he places a lot of emphasis on social inclusion as a vital part of the partnership process and, to that extent, there will be continuity in ICTU's approach.

However, congress has its work cut out if it is to maintain current levels of influence in the coming years. While membership crept up by some 18 per cent in the 1990s, employment has grown by 70 per cent. Trade union density is down from 52.5 per cent a decade ago to 38.7 per cent. Membership is also disproportionately concentrated in the public sector.

With the decline of traditional sectors such as manufacturing and an explosion in atypical working, Mr Begg knows new ways of organising are essential if congress is to continue punching its weight in the partnership process.

Since the collapse of communism, he says, pressure on the EU social model has increased, along with the "mantra" that the labour market is over-regulated. However, he produces detailed figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to show the Republic has the most unregulated structures in the developed world, outside of North America and New Zealand, when it comes to product markets or protective labour legislation.

He has been a member of the Central Bank board since 1995 and says the experience has been invaluable. He now sees the free movement of capital as the biggest threat to stability. In the past, different elements of the market adjusted at rates that tended towards equilibrium.

"The problem with free capital markets means the trade in currencies happens so fast they tend to overshoot, causing serious oscillations," he says. While working for Concern he saw the impact of the south-east Asian collapse at first hand. "There was a meltdown and, when capitalism starts to flee a country, governments tend to raise interest rates to hold onto what's left - and completely banjax the economy."

He sees the protection of the partnership approach as vital. Mr Begg points out that, while the Republic's economic model has allowed US companies to match their returns on profit here with the home market, Irish take-home pay has risen in real terms by 35 per cent while US wage rates have stagnated.

At the same time, he accepts that the partnership model "is a little bit like a government in office for a long time, where people feel fed up with it but haven't really looked at whether it's a good thing or a bad thing in itself".

He believes "the trade union movement is the only actor in the market system capable of bringing a degree of social justice, and even fervent believers in the free market should support trade unions for that reason.

"Without them, the drive for markets leads to greater inequalities, which create their own destructive pressures."

Referring to his experiences with Concern, Begg says: "If anyone wants to see a totally unfettered market in operation they should go to Somalia."

Despite the collapse of state structures and public services, Begg points out, "there are three mobile phone companies operating in Somalia and it has a very efficient banking system".

However, it is impossible to travel anywhere without hiring a jeep, which comes with a heavily armed "technical team", which is there to protect the vehicle, not you.

While he sees social partnership as the way forward, he is aware of its dangers. Centralised agreements can emasculate union activism in the workplace and concerns over pay relativities can limit the potential for change.

If ICTU is to continue to be a major player in Irish society, he believes its constituent members must recruit more effectively and the organisation at central level must remain effective at co-ordinating collective bargaining.

"This requires effective bargaining structures, effective trade union bodies at EU level and a reliable data and information base."

As someone involved in no less than three union mergers, he believes there is plenty of room for further rationalisation but warns against people using it as a comfort zone that gives the illusion of growth.

"No business has ever been successful that used mergers as a defensive strategy," he says, and the ICTU will certainly not be on the defensive under his stewardship.