Vodafone's Irish shareholders offered low-cost escape

Vodafone is offering Irish shareholders a chance to dispose of their shares at a much reduced, or in some instances, no cost.

Thousands of minor shareholders will be given the chance to offload their holdings which stem almost entirely from the sale of Eircell by Telecom Éireann to Vodafone in May 2001 in a move that gave the UK operator its first presence in the Irish market.

The offer is open to the 335,000 or so private individuals who hold fewer than 1,000 shares and will run from February 23 to May 24 this year.