Irish shares were broadly unchanged with Eircom providing most of the excitement of the day after Dutch group KPN and its Swedish counterpart Telia announced plans to sell their 35 per cent stake in the company. The stock initially slid by four per cent on the news to €4.01 (£3.16) before recovering to close at €4.13, down just 5.5 cents on the day. Dealers said attention was now focused on whether a trade buyer, rather than investors, would buy the stake given its large size. "People are wondering whether a big European telecoms company or someone like British Telecom might buy it. There would be a strong logic for BT and Eircom getting together," one trader said.

Elsewhere, Royal Bank of Scotland's announcement that it was bidding for NatWest failed to support the banks which drifted lower, knocking 0.5 per cent off the index of financial shares.

AIB closed eight cents weaker at €13.42 (£10.57) while Bank of Ireland lost 12 cents to €8.35 (£6.58) and Irish Life & Permanent gave up two cents to €10.40 (£8.19).

By contrast, industrials had a better day. CRH, buoyed by ongoing consolidation in its sector, gained 72 cents or 3.8 per cent to €19.67 (£15.49). "There's a lot of cash going into quality stock like CRH," one dealer noted.

Greencore, which announced a 14 per cent increase in full-year operating profits, added seven cents to €2.64 (£2.08), having touched €2.67 earlier in the day. Engineering group Unidare also firmed by 11 cents to €1.93 (£1.52) in the wake of its results although it recorded a 22 per cent drop in pre-tax profits. However, a tough year had been predicted and the results were better than expected.