The general secretary of the Communications Workers' Union, Mr Con Scanlon, yesterday confirmed he would step down from the post within three months.
He insisted, however, that the decision had nothing to do with recent controversy over his remuneration as a board member of Eircom, of which he is deputy chairman.
He accepted, however, that his dual role would have been an issue for some union members if he had decided to stay on.
"I think things would have settled down, but it would always be there in the background. I mean if people had views on it, it would be very hard to disabuse them of those views."
On the other hand he had received "great support" from colleagues in the union since the issue had arisen. It had not placed him in a difficult position, he said.
Mr Scanlon is one of two representatives of the Employee Share Ownership Trust on the board of Eircom. As deputy chairman of the board, he received fees last year of €106,000.
He earns a similar sum as general secretary of the CWU. In addition, he got shares worth around €580,000 when Eircom refloated in March and negotiated a pension worth €1 million over 10 years together with a lump sum of €230,000. Concerns about the level of payments to him and other Eircom directors have been raised by another union in the company, the CPSU.
Mr Scanlon emphasised yesterday that it was the CWU which had asked him to perform his various roles. "People have their own views on these things, but from my point of view, the union put me into all these positions."
Mr Scanlon became emotional yesterday when he spoke at his union's biennial conference in Galway of his intention to step down after seven years as CWU general secretary. "The union is part of what I am. I have given more than 30 years of my life to it in one form or another and it will never cease to be anything other than something I am deeply passionate about."
Speaking to journalists afterwards, he said he had been contemplating stepping down as general secretary for some time. The job involved "unrelenting" work and pressure and, after seven years in the post, he had decided it was a good time to hand over to somebody else.
He did not believe there was a conflict between his union role and his position as deputy chairman of Eircom. "I have to say, hand on my heart, that was never a problem.
"In fact, it was an advantage, because I do not believe we would have been as successful in all the negotiations that have taken place if we hadn't combined all the roles."
