ICTU chief David Begg to retire

The general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions David Begg is to retire.

Mr Begg told the executive council of Congress today that he would be stepping down from his post next March.

He has held the position of general secretary of Congress, the umbrella body for the trade union movement in Ireland, since 2001.

Mr Begg was chief executive of the charity Concern Worldwide from 1997 to 2001.

He previously served as general secretary of the Communications Workers’ Union and as head of the ESBOA.

Mr Begg also formerly served as governor of the Irish Times Trust and as a director of the Central Bank.

He is a member of the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) and a non-executive director of Aer Lingus.

The Congress executive is now expected to put in place a plan to recruit a successor to Mr Begg as general secretary in advance of his departure in March.

Mr Begg’s retirement is not unexpected. He told the biennial conference of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in Belfast in 2013 that he would not be in the post by the time it held its next conference next summer.