A new leader of the ATGWU was appointed yesterday by the union's London-based executive council, pre-empting any attempt that might have been made to return Mr Mick O'Reilly to the post.
The union's new regional secretary is to be Mr Brendan Hodgers, a Dundalk-based official who has been on the ATGWU's staff since 1989.
The post is the most senior in the union in Ireland, and has been vacant since Mr O'Reilly was suspended two years ago and later sacked.
An internal appeals tribunal upheld the dismissal this year, but threw out a number of the allegations against him and recommended that he be offered a demoted position in the union, but with his former pay and conditions.
A similar finding was made in respect of Mr Eugene McGlone, the union's Belfast-based regional organiser who had also been dismissed.
Under the terms of their return to the union in March, both men were barred from applying for their old jobs for 12 months.
However, the union's general secretary-elect, Mr Tony Woodley, had promised to use all his "power and influence" to have both restored to their former positions. Mr Woodley, whose election at the end of May confirmed a move to the left by Britain's biggest union, takes over in October.
Yesterday's council decision appears to rule out any prospect of reinstating Mr O'Reilly to his old job for the foreseeable future.
The council also filled Mr McGlone's former position, appointing Mr Desmond Henderson as Belfast-based regional organiser.
The union's chairwoman, Ms Breda Fell, said the appointments marked a "milestone" for the union, which could now put its "recent difficulties" behind it.
