The race is on to take control of NTL

Up to three buyers remain in the race to take over the company, which provides TV and broadband high-speed internet access services to over 300,000 homes in Dublin, Galway and Waterford.

These include a joint bid from Dublin-based broadcaster Setanta and New York investment bank Veronis Suhler Stevenson (VSS).

But this faces competition from media giant UGC, the owner of southern-based TV operator Chorus, the former Irish Multichannel, as well as a consortium headed by Kerry-born John Riordan, who once ran UGC's European cable businesses.