Ireland's European Commissioner, Mr David Byrne, has announced he will be standing down later this year.
The former Irish Attorney General is expected to take up a position in the private sector. The 56-year-old father of three from Monasterevin, Co Kildare, is a former barrister.
"I've enjoyed the work that I've been doing for the past five years, it's very exciting," he said in Brussels today. "Political life is very exciting, the ups and downs of it, and I enjoyed every moment of that but I did believe that the time had now come for me to think long and hard about whether I would continue doing this for another five years.
"On balance, I felt I'd prefer to go back to private life, that's where I was before I became what might be described as an accidental politician some years ago when I became Attorney General."
He was appointed EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Rights in 1999, and has been central in a number of controversial issues, including finding a resolution to the row over British beef in the wake of the BSE crisis and the foot-and-mouth outbreak.
He had been involved in politics for 10 years having been an adviser to Fianna Fáil while it was in opposition. He was appointed Attorney General from June 1997 to July 1999 and was involved in teh neogotiation of the Belfast Agreement in April 1998.
He told the Taoiseach of his intentions some months ago, he revealed today. Mr Ahern had wished him well, Mr Byrne said.
"I decided for all kinds of reasons that another five years in Brussels was not the way I wanted to spend my life.
"The logical outcome of that is that I go back and live in Ireland and take up where I left off some years ago.
"I am a trained barrister so it seems logical that I'll go back into some aspect of that work, I assume."
He will complete his term in office at the end of October.
The new 25-member Commission takes over in Autumn and Mr Byrne's decision could open the door for the appointment of Mr Pat Cox, the current European Parliament President, as Ireland's Commissioner.
Mr Cox announced last month he will not be seeking re-election as an MEP and confirmed yesterday his name had been put forward to succeed current European Commission President, Mr Romano Prodi.
EU leaders are due to select a successor to Mr Prodi, who steps down in November, at a summit in Brussels on June 17th and 18th.