An Post is looking for a new chief executive following confirmation by Donal Curtin that he will leave his post in July.

Mr Curtin (58) will depart at the end of a turbulent three-year contract agreed with An Post back in 2003. "It was always the case in relation to my role that it was to be for a recovery programme," Mr Curtin said.

The State company will now launch a recruitment campaign to fill the position.

"In six months time that recovery programme will be implemented. There is a foundation there, the company is financially stable and the job now is to introduce long- term change."

He said that the new chief executive would have to make a "career type" commitment to the position as a five-year programme or strategy was now required.

He said the company had already begun work on preparing for a new long-term strategy and a list of things to be done over the next six months was agreed. This preparatory work would be done by the time his successor arrived and would be there for him or her to build on.

"The new chief executive and his team will have to commit to a five-year programme."

He said the results to be published in April would show the company was "stable", with a "significant cash pile" and a "healthy profit". The cash pile would be needed to fund voluntary redundancy and severance payments, he said.

Mr Curtin said that, six weeks after joining An Post in 2003, it was discovered that the company was facing a potential loss of €50 million rather than the "modest loss" that had been expected.

In the event, the loss was "curtailed" to €43 million. In 2004 the company recorded an operating profit of €1.7 million.

On last year's clash with the trade unions Mr Curtin said it was well known that relations between management and trade unions were difficult in An Post. "In the context of the programme that was being carried out, it was inevitable that there would be difficulties, he said." There were now deals in place with all the trade unions.

"My task as chief executive was to bring the company from crisis to stability. The implementation of the recovery strategy will be completed this summer and my job will have been done. My successor will have the opportunity to take the company forward," he said.

The chairwoman of An Post, Margaret McGinley, paid tribute to Mr Curtin.

"Donal Curtin took on a difficult task three years ago and his achievements in dramatically improving the company's finances, reorganising the management structures and implementing radical change are enormous.

"The board has accepted Donal's decision to move on to other challenges and interests and wishes him every success in the future," she said.

The changes implemented by Mr Curtin included the closure of the loss-making SDS parcels division with the loss of 270 jobs.

Mr Curtin said he would be looking for some new role after July. "I like change and I will be looking for something new," he said.