Irish prime minister Albert Reynolds denied in the Dail yesterday that he had any prior knowledge of the offer by Cable & Wireless Plc to set up a joint venture with state-owned Telecom Eireann, Reuter reports from Dublin. The UK company confirmed that it has submitted a proposal for a joint venture with Telecomm Eireann, and Reuter hears that any venture, in which Cable & Wireless would hold perhaps 25% and invest UKP200m to UKP300m, might include Irish business and residential services as well as the international telecommunications reported earlier. Brian Cowen, Irish Minister for Communications, said Cables was one of a number of overseas telecommunications firms that expressed interest in such a joint venture.
