The latest development at Eircom was inevitably the talking point of the Irish market yesterday. The disclosure that Mr Denis O'Brien was preparing a €2.2 billion bid for Eircom's fixed line business drove the share higher in heavy turnover.

The view in the market is that the €2.2 billion price - equivalent to €1 per Eircom share - is too low and will need to be increased. But the combination of the O'Brien approach for Eircom Ireland and the likely Vodafone takeover of Eircell sent Eircom shares up another 20 cents yesterday to €3.15 in turnover of 2.6 million shares.

That price still leaves a lot of scope for hefty gains if an investor believes the bids for the two biggest parts of Eircom's business will materialise. Alternatively, the withdrawal of either the O'Brien or Vodafone bid will undoubtedly send Eircom shares spiralling back well below €3.

Otherwise, prices were generally firm with most leaders making gains. The best of the leaders was CRH which jumped 51 cents to €17.11 from an oversold position. AIB gained 15 cents to €11.70 although Bank of Ireland drifted two cents lower to €8.58.

The biggest activity was in Fyffes which fell five cents to €0.85 in turnover of 3.4 million. Fyffes has been volatile in the past few weeks, trading as high as €1.05 only two weeks ago. Market debutante Datalex is finding the early days on the market a bit sticky. The shares closed 25 cents lower yesterday on €6.85 - just 1 per cent above its flotation price.