Current Account: Fresh news has emerged about the Government's strenuous efforts to secure EU backing for a €100 million aid package for Intel's Fab 24-2 plant in Leixlip, Co Kildare. Brussels said no, of course, but not before the Irish machine went into overdrive in search of a positive outcome.

One of the ideas floated at the highest level was a "softly, softly" letter from Bertie Ahern to José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, which was to mix warm words about the relaunch of the Lisbon competitiveness project with a discreet plea for help on the Intel issue.

But the idea was scotched by no lesser a figure than David O'Sullivan, the Irish secretary general to the commission.

This we know from an e-mail written by the State's ambassador to the EU, Anne Anderson, which was released by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment under the Freedom of Information Act.

Anderson spoke about the Intel question with O'Sullivan on February 3rd, a month before the application for State aid was withdrawn.

"I asked his view of the usefulness of a possible further letter to Barroso from the Taoiseach (mainly congratulating on Lisbon launch, with a couple of lines on Intel). David was inclined to advise against - recent letters are still fresh, Barroso's team highly sensitised to the issue, don't overdo it."

The e-mail to senior Department official Brian Whitney shows that O'Sullivan planned to have a word with the director general of the EU competition body, Philip Lowe, about a meeting on the Intel issue. O'Sullivan was to let Anderson know "if there is any feedback of interest".

If all that suggests an active flow of information between the Irish in Brussels, be they with the commission or the Government, connections at even the highest level failed to deliver the desired result.

World trade centre at Shannon 'urgent'

This week, some pillars of the Shannon business community decided to write an urgent letter to the Taoiseach about the abolition of the Shannon stopover rule.The three authors of the letter, among them Shannon airport chief Pat Shanahan, called on the Taoiseach to introduce an "adequate transition period" before the rule is finally abolished. However, the three men also included an expensive shopping list aimed at boosting the Shannon region before the stopover is finally scrapped.

And boy it is some shopping list. The three authors would like the following: a new motorway from Shannon to Galway, a fourth river crossing in Limerick city, a rail link to Shannon International Airport, ongoing roll-out of broadband infrastructure, a new marketing fund for the region; and several large projects with international scale.

As if the list wasn't exhaustive enough, the authors really do mean projects with international scale. They want - wait for it - an international convention centre and a world trade centre.

The authors may not get a reply from the Taoiseach for some time.

Meteoric price rise

Consumers have had a rough few years at the hands of the Irish telecoms and cable TV industries. Interminable delays in getting broadband lines, the huge cost of making mobile calls and the lack of proper interactive cable television have done little to promote the Republic as a "technology leader".

But Current Account believes that things may be changing for the better for the average punter.

UGC's buy out of NTL, the entry of a fourth mobile operator and an active funding market for local telecoms all point towards new services and better prices for consumers.

The interest of US entrepreneurs such as Ken Peterson in the Irish market is also a strong sign that competition is reviving after the dotcom bubble burst. Eircom will have to hope that this renewed interest in the Irish market doesn't inflate the price it has to pay for Meteor, the third mobile operator in the market.

Once again, Eircom's addiction to re-financing - remember the IPO last year - may have caused it to take its eye off the ball. In May 2004 Meteor may have been scooped up for little more than €200 million whereas this year it could cost about €350 million. What a difference a year makes!