Mr Andy McCarter is to take over the running of the Irish operations of Fruit of the Loom, The Irish Times has learned. He is a brother of the company's Irish chief executive, Mr Willie McCarter, who is threatened with redundancy by the US parent company.
Mr Andy McCarter is currently director of Fruit of the Loom's spinning operations in Derry. He was the member of the family who made initial contact with Fruit of the Loom in the 1980s while seeking a joint venture partner for the family's Co Donegal-based company.
At that time he was quoted as saying that the companies would enjoy a close working relationship with the American partners, "even though they would call the shots."
It is also understood that Fruit of the Loom management in the US has made a new severance offer to Mr Willie McCarter, Mr John McCarter and Mr Seamus McEleney, the three directors the company wants to make redundant. All three directors have taken court action to prevent their redundancy.
In its first public statement on the affair Fruit of the Loom emphasised that it remains committed to its Irish operations, which employ 3,500 people in seven locations in Donegal and Derry.
The company, however, refused to make any comment on the dispute with the three directors, citing the legal situation.
The expected appointment of Mr Andy McCarter as head of the Irish operations will also provide reassurance for the workforce. Local sources had said they feared that the Irish operations were going to be run by the American management.
One local union official said yesterday: "We would far prefer to see a local man at the helm than an outsider. The McCarters' commitment to Donegal would not be doubted by anyone."
Fruit of the Loom's public restatement of its commitments to its Irish operations may also be related to the enormous cost of closing them. The group would incur severe financial penalties if it decided to relocate the Donegal textile operations to another country.
The company has already received almost £24 million in grants from the Government and an undisclosed level of grants from the British government for the plant in Derry. Under the terms of these grants, much of this money would have to be repaid to the respective industrial development agencies in the Republic and Northern Ireland.
It is understood that about half of the £24 million grants to Fruit of the Loom from the Government would have to repaid in the event of a closure.
The cost of making 3,500 people redundant on both sides of the Border would also be enormous.