Talks take place on NI electricity

Royal Bank of Canada representatives were today attending talks in Belfast to discuss Northern Ireland electricity prices.

But a spokesman last night denied the bank had any current plans to make a bid to buy out the network, estimated to be worth £700m (€1,087m).

Senior businessmen and industrialists have been invited to a meeting to be chaired by George Quigley, the Northern Ireland chairman of the Canadian-owned Bombardier Aerospace Company, which has a major factory in Belfast.

Northern Ireland Electricity has been heavily criticised because of the high costs. Industrialists claim they are having a serious impact on business.

With a network stretching to 35,000 miles, NIE has seven hundred thousand customers.