The appointment of Mr Greg Maxwell as chief executive of Dublin Simon Community has been terminated, the organisation said yesterday.
A statement issued yesterday on behalf of the board of the community confirmed it had made a decision to terminate, by way of redundancy, the employment of Mr Maxwell.
"As Dublin Simon Community enters into the next strategic phase in its provision of services for the homeless in Dublin, the board feels that a different skill set is required of the chief executive for the organisation to progress effectively over the coming years," the statement said.
It went on to say that the board would shortly appoint an interim chief executive to succeed Mr Maxwell with a view to making a permanent appointment over the coming months to lead, build and develop the community as it faced the ongoing challenge of homelessness in Dublin.
A spokesman said the organisation was not prepared to go into detail on the matter, which was going through due process.
Mr Maxwell was not at the Dublin office yesterday. A telephone call to the Dublin Simon Community office asking for Mr Maxwell was referred to the public relations company representing the organisation.
Belfast-born Mr Maxwell (56) was appointed director of the community in April 1995.
He is also the co-ordinator of Dublin Homeless Voluntary Network, a committee member of the Dublin Homeless Consultative Forum and the Irish Council for Social Housing - Housing Management Committee.
Mr Maxwell had previously been prominent in the trade union movement during the 1980s and 1990s.
He was general secretary of the Union of Professional and Technical Civil Servants (UPTCS). He was a member of the executive of the ICTU and chaired its public services committee. He was part of the ICTU negotiating group for national partnership agreements at that time.
In 1991 Mr Maxwell became joint general secretary of IMPACT with Mr Phil Flynn when UPTCS merged with the Local Government and Public Services Union (LGPSU).
Two years later he resigned from IMPACT, which led to a split in the union. In 1994 he formed the Union for Public Service Specialists (UPS) before taking up his appointment with Dublin Simon Community.