Denis O'Brien's eIsland consortium does not appear to be getting far in its efforts to court the sceptical Eircom Employee Share Ownership Trust (ESOT) on the merits of its latest offer for the former State telecoms group, or what is left of it.

The perceived wisdom has it that, without the backing of the trust's 14.9 per cent shareholding, Mr O'Brien and his associates have little chance of winning the support of the holders of 80 per cent of the shares in the company.

This is the key milestone which would allow him to compulsorily acquire the remaining 20 per cent.

Yet even without the ESOT, there are 85.1 per cent of the shares to be had.

Therein seems to lie the problem. Twenty two per cent of the shares are held by Joe and Jane Public and these small shareholders are precisely those least likely to vote one way or the other in such situations in public companies.

But hold on . . . aren't these the very same plain people of Ireland who stormed the RDS at the a.g.m. to excoriate the company's management and demand their voice?

With parties involved in the rival Valentia bid holding shares in Eircom, the small shareholders may not decide the issue entirely this time around but they certainly have far more clout now than they ever will from the floor of an a.g.m.