Fórsa’s elected National Executive Committee (NEC) has appointed Kevin Callinan as the union’s senior general secretary designate with effect from 1st January 2019.

In line with the transition agreement, which was backed by a substantial majority of members in the three unions that amalgamated to create the new union last year, this confirms that Kevin will become senior general secretary when the position becomes vacant later this year.

Shay Cody currently holds the position of senior general secretary, while Eoin Ronayne is general secretary (organisation and development). Former general secretary (public service) Tom Geraghty left the union when he was appointed deputy chair of the Labour Court last autumn.

Since then, Derek Mullen has been appointed as head of the union’s Civil Service Division.

Kevin was formerly the union’s deputy general secretary (DGS). Under the new union’s agreed transitional arrangements, he was designated to become Fórsa’s senior general secretary when the position became vacant.

Kevin currently has responsibility for the union’s 12,000-strong Education Division, as well as the union’s extensive organising programme.

He was formerly IMPACT’s deputy general secretary and, before that, he was the union’s national secretary for Health and Welfare. During his career has also worked with branches in the civil service and local authorities.

Kevin is currently a vice-president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) and a member of the European Federation of Public Service Unions’ executive council.