Upwards of half a million people may have applied to buy Telecom Eireann shares by yesterday's 4 p.m. deadline. Although thousands visited AIB branches across the State to deliver their forms by hand, the deadline passed off smoothly, with most people making it to the bank on time.
Applicants now have to wait until next week to find out how many people applied to buy shares, how the shares have been allocated and at what price they are being issued, although the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, is believed to favour one that would benefit small shareholders.
The level of interest in the shares and the high-profile campaign to promote the flotation appear to have led many of the 1.18 million people who registered for shares to process applications.
Sources say the share offering to the major financial institutional investors is also going well, with those investors prepared to buy many more shares than will be made available.
The Government and its advisers will be pleased that the US financial markets reacted positively last night to a 0.25 percentage point increase in interest rates there.
While there were few signs of panic, many AIB banks were extremely busy throughout the day. Banks in Dublin reported a rush of applicants around lunchtime and a steady flow up to the deadline. In the south-east, the banks reported an "incredibly busy" Monday and Tuesday, with a slowdown as yesterday's deadline approached.
In Galway, even as the main AIB branch in Eyre Square closed, two people ran up the steps clutching their envelopes. One of them, a woman in her 50s who said she "couldn't possibly" give her name to The Irish Times, tried the side door. No joy. "Surely they aren't going to refuse me?" she exclaimed in disbelief. She had queued for half an hour in another institution up the square to withdraw a draft for £2,000. "Ah well, I'm never on time anyway," she sighed.
Galway had "gone loopy" over the shares in the past couple of weeks, according to a spokesman for the city's Ulster Bank branch. Right up to 3.50 p.m. yesterday, it had clients "rushing in to get drafts and racing over to AIB".
Mr Joe Gorham, sales and marketing co-ordinator for AIB in Galway, described the response as "unbelievable". The bank's call centre had remained open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for the past fortnight to process loans, and applications ranged from £2,000 for individuals to up to £500,000 for a family. Across the Republic, Irish Life & Permanent estimates that its customers have channelled some £100 million (€127 million) to buy Telecom Eireann shares. This figure includes funds borrowed from the group as well as savings withdrawn from deposit accounts. Irish Life & Permanent said on average its customers were taking loans of around £11,000.
Other banks reported average loans of between £20,000 and £30,000, with many small loans being approved in the last few days.