Long serving Unite Regional secretary Jimmy Kelly says one of the highlights of his career was the resolution of the Waterford Crystal pension case.
He has retired and was honoured by his union colleagues in Waterford at the weekend.
More than 1700 former employees were left with almost nothing in 2009 after the company folded and their pension became insolvent.
They were paid following a ruling by the European Court of Justice in 2013 that the state had failed to to meet it's obligation in protecting their pension entitlements.
Jimmy Kelly said the settlement reached for Waterford Crystal workers was a good one.
He said the decision on the pension issue was a demonstration that UNITE was willing to fight for workers rights.
He started as an apprentice in Waterford Crystal at 15 years of age and went on to represent thousands of workers there as a union representative before being promoted to Regional Secretary.
Jimmy Kelly says he is now going to take a step back but will still be involved in a number of groups.
He has been asked to chair the Peace and Neutrality alliance and will be available to the local Unite branch.
He says he's looking forward to his retirement.
