The new national secretary of the MSF union in Ireland, Mr Jerry Shanahan (47), says he is going to make the establishment of an alliance with the Irish Bank Officials' Association a priority. MSF is the largest trade union in the financial services sector in Ireland, while the IBOA represents workers in the main banks.
Mr Shanahan, who was appointed on Thursday, said that as a result of the Eurozone "there has been a spate of mergers and acquisitions in the finance sector". "Given this scenario, it is clearly time that the two major unions in the Irish finance sector, the IBOA and MSF, consider developing a strategic partnership."
MSF has 21,000 members in the Republic and 10,000 in Northern Ireland. The IBOA has over 10,000 members in the Republic and 5,500 in the North. MSF has sought a merger with the IBOA in the past but the latter has been wary of absorption by MSF, one of the largest unions in Britain.
Mr Shanahan succeeds Mr John Tierney, who has become a director of the National Centre for Partnership.
Mr Shanahan, a native of Co Kerry, is a member of the executive council of the ICTU, the National Economic and Social Forum (NESF), the Employment Appeals Tribunal and the board of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.