Despite the hype surrounding Telecom Eireann's re-branding as Eircom, the legion of shareholders in the company will be concerned at its poor stock market performance in recent weeks.

Goodbody Stockbrokers, which handled the Eircom share issue for the Government, believes that retail investors bought 55 per cent of the shares and just 10 per cent of this stock was sold back to the market.

But with Eircom shares dropping like a stone, setting new lows on a regular basis, many must be wondering if now is the time to offload the shares while they are still sitting on a premium over the issue price of €3.90 (£3.07).

Unless you need the cash, however, it's probably best to sit out the current doldrums and wait for a recovery.

Shareholders should bear in mind that much of the weakness in the shares through August reflected a poor performance in the telecoms sector internationally, rather than any company-specific bad news.

Analysts also point out that mobile phone penetration in the Republic is continuing to grow strongly and Eircell, as market leader, is poised to benefit from that down the line.