Analysis: Mr Brendan Mackin, who today begins his first full day as president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, is a self-described sports fanatic who played football at senior and minor levels for his native Antrim.
He also follows hurling, boxing and soccer but, unusually for a trade unionist, he has no particular favourite English team. He is, he says, an ABU, an acronym for fans who will support Anybody But (Manchester) United.
Hopefully, this will not put too much of a strain on his working relationship with the newly-elected vice-president of Congress, Mr Peter McLoone, a committed United supporter and frequent visitor to the club's stadium, Old Trafford.
For ABUs, a perfect world would be one where Manchester United never won a match or, better again, ceased to exist. Some, however, allow their devotion to this dream to take up a lot of their time. They enjoy nothing more, when at a match, than joining in a chorus of "Stand up, if you hate Man U!", even if the United team is nowhere in the vicinity.
Their relationship with Manchester United, then, is something akin to that between trade unionists and the Ryanair chief executive, Mr Michael O'Leary. They may be divided on the United question, but on Michael O'Leary there is complete unity in the trade union movement: everybody is an ABOL.
Mr O'Leary, of course, was not in the vicinity of the Congress biennial conference in Tralee this week, but nobody was talked about more. The references to him began on the opening day with outgoing president, Senator Joe O'Toole, bringing the house down with his description of the Ryanair boss as "all throttle and no bottle", because of his refusal to negotiate with unions.
They concluded at yesterday's closing session with general secretary Mr David Begg reminding the Taoiseach that, unlike some who had the means to do so through media advertisements, Congress would never stoop to personal abuse in opposing him or his Ministers. He didn't name Mr O'Leary, but everyone knew who he meant.
Mr Ahern's address had even been preceded with a reference to the Ryanair chief, when Senator O'Toole jokingly said Congress would listen to the Taoiseach's points "as long as you checked your speech with Michael O'Leary".
Although it may not sound like it, the issue is not personal, but one of fundamental importance for trade unionists. For them, a future in which important public services are left in the hands of committed free market capitalists like Mr O'Leary is a nightmare scenario.
And with major confrontations looming with the Government over its plans for Aer Rianta and CIÉ it is not surprising that the Ryanair boss, established in the aviation sector and eager to get building a new terminal at Dublin Airport, should be the focus of much of their attention.
The other target of their ire is, of course, the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, whom union leaders accuse of dispensing with partnership by pressing ahead with his plans to break up CIÉ and Aer Rianta, open 25 per cent of the Dublin bus market to competition by early next year and have a privately-run terminal built at Dublin Airport.
Opposition to these plans is intense among rank-and-file trade unionists, many of whom are pressing for swift industrial action.
Mr Begg, however, strongly advised at the conference that the only effective way to defend the role of State enterprises in society is to convince the public of their importance. Marching on the streets about workers' pay and conditions will not, he and others recognise, be enough to bring public opinion with the unions on this issue.
Mr Mackin, who formally succeeded Senator O'Toole yesterday, is, therefore, in for a challenging time as president. Although based in Belfast, where he is director of an ICTU-established support centre for the unemployed, the 60-year-old father of four intends to take a lead role in congress activities in the Republic as well as the North.
An early meeting with the Taoiseach on the CIÉ and Aer Rianta issues will be among the first items on the agenda.
Next March he intends to lead the congress delegation back into Government Buildings for negotiations on a new national pay deal.
By then, if Mr Brennan gets his way, private bus operators will be highly visible on the streets of Dublin. A decision on a second airport terminal will also have been made.