IRISH Continental Group plc (ICG) has sold the ferry Bilbao to the St Peter Line in Nicosia, Cyprus, for €37.7 million, payable in instalments over 5.75 years, up to September 2016.

IRISH Continental Group Plc, Ireland’s largest ferry operator, is no longer under offer after a takeover bid by investment company One51 and marine-services operator Doyle Group Ltd lapsed.

WAR-fuelled stock market increases stalled and the US dollar slid after US President George W Bush cautioned the war with Iraq "could be longer and more difficult than some predict".