In an ideal world Mr Con Scanlon would prefer to be promoting a public service telecommunications network rather than being the centre of attention in a multi million takeover of Eircom. He points out ruefully that while public attention is on the Eircom takeover, investment in broadband infrastructure has slowed to a virtual standstill and the dangers of a digital divide are growing with it.

But in an ideal world the Government might not have sold its golden share in the company. And the shrewd Kerry man who chairs the Employee Share Option Trust (ESOT) is a pragmatist.

This means that as well as being chief negotiator for the 9,500 members of the ESOT, he cannot afford to neglect the day job as general secretary of the Communications Workers' Union. The union now has members in An Post, Vodafone and a host of smaller private sector employments such as call centres, parcel delivery firms and couriers.

Although Mr Scanlon began life as a trainee technician with the now defunct Department of Posts and Telegraphs, he has embraced the need for change by actively recruiting members in rival companies to Eircom and An Post. The union has nearly 1,000 members in other companies, but it's a slow and painful process, with many suspicious or openly hostile.

Over the next few weeks the Eircom takeover battle will dominate Mr Scanlon's agenda. The ESOT holds a crucial 14.9 per cent stake and its decision on who to sell to will be a key factor in the outcome. So far the ESOT has had talks with the two consortiums which have launched firm bids - led by Sir Anthony O'Reilly and Mr Denis O'Brien - and with a third group led by financier Mr Dermot Desmond, which has not yet formally bid.

On the face of it, Mr Scanlon faces a serious conflict of interest. As chairman of the ESOT he must negotiate for the best price he can get. But the higher the price paid by the eventual owners of Eircom, the greater the cuts they are likely to demand in labour costs.

The rules of the Takeover Panel pretty well dictate the format of the negotiations. Also, if the ESOT board was to ignore the advice of its financial experts, Smith Salamons Schroder and Barney, it could face serious legal sanctions.

Where the predilections of Mr Scanlon and other union leaders might come into play is if there is no significant difference in the financial packages being offered by the rival bidders. So far the likelihood of a frenetic auction seems remote. Bankers backing the rival bids also have to take on board the fact that Eircom is traditionally a unionised company and that one reason for its problems is that chief executive Mr Alfie Kane failed to develop a good working relationship with the CWU.

Even though the workforce holds 14.9 per cent of Eircom, the directors representing them have always been expected, in Mr Scanlon's famous phrase, to use the "tradesmen's entrance". Even more annoying was the realisation that the ESOT directors were often not given as much information as other major stakeholders. One reason the ESOT is pushing for a much larger stake in any new structure is to ensure that does not happen again.

In a scathing attack on Mr Kane's stewardship at the CWU conference last month, its president, Mr O'Rorke, described the sale of Eircell as "a panic reaction" by Mr Kane to criticism.

Mr Scanlon said: "The big question on everyone's lips in Eircom is, `Do they know what they are doing?' Generally there is little confidence among staff that they do. The company had effectively quit the UK market and scaled back significantly on its multimedia ambitions." He pointed out that the high-speed digital subscriber lines programme - which would deliver multimedia services down existing copper telephone lines - is being curtailed. And Eircell, the jewel in the crown, has been sold to Vodafone.

Mr O'Rorke concluded: "In an era where top executives are rewarded based on performance and achieving targets, I think that ranks as some performance."

In order to dispose of Eircell, Mr Kane had to pay a £22 million "transfer fee" to the 1,200 employees as compensation for anticipated profits foregone in Eircom's ESOT. It was one of a number of bruising encounters with Mr Scanlon, where the latter tended to come out on top.

The role of Mr Denis O'Brien in building up Esat as a nonunionised firm under the umbrella of the telecoms regulator has not been forgotten either by the Eircom unions. He will need all his renowned sales skills to convince them that he has changed his ways.

The telecoms regulator Ms Etain Doyle and the Department of Public Enterprise are the unions' other betes noirs. Mr Scanlon has described the regulatory process as penal and says Eircom's 450,000 shareholders would be "outraged if they knew how the company's assets were being opened to competition. Not alone the regulator but officials in the Department of Public Enterprise appear to believe that their sole aim in life is to get rid of Eircom".

He has recently moderated his attitude towards the regulator and emphasised more the need for regulatory changes. He has also been campaigning to slow down the rate of liberalisation of the postal market. As with providing a broadband infrastructure for the telecommunications industry, he believes the Government needs to decide on social investment policy to maintain a service for people outside the main urban centres.

Although he represents relatively well-paid workers, Mr Scanlon supported efforts to secure better terms for the low paid at negotiations on the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. Like his efforts to build union membership in low-cost employments such as call centres, his approach shows a combination of pragmatism and social solidarity.

Despite his critical attitude towards the Government he has had a good relationship with the Minister, Ms O'Rourke - unlike her predecessor, Mr Alan Dukes, who opposed an ESOT as part of the privatisation process. He will not be slow to let her know if there are problems.