Name: Peter Bunting.

Born: Belfast, 46 years ago.

Position: General Secretary of the National Bus and Rail Union. He has an honours degree from TCD in Politics and Business Studies and is currently doing his masters in Industrial Relations at Keele University.

Family: Married to Nuala, a teacher of Irish at Mount Temple school in

Dublin, they have three children, Dara (24), Emmet (20) and Muireann (17).

Newsworthiness: His union was threatening to hold a national transport strike this week if Bus Eireann introduced minibuses into provincial cities.