(Issued 15 May, 2009) The eircom Board is pleased to announce the appointment of Paul Donovan as the new eircom Group CEO. The decision follows an international search conducted over the past three months.

Mr. Donovan spent nine years with Vodafone, which included three years as Chief Executive of Vodafone Ireland. Most recently he was Vodafone CEO for Central Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific. For the past four years, Donovan has been a member of the Vodafone Executive Committee. He will take up the position on 1July 2009.

Speaking on behalf of the board, Ned Sullivan, Chairman, eircom said, "I would like to congratulate and welcome Paul Donovan. Paul’s vast industry experience and specific knowledge of the Irish market will be critical in leading the Group through the major challenges that lie ahead. He has worked with some of the largest international brands, and has been extremely successful developing and implementing strategic programmes which achieved strong growth for those operations."

Ned Sullivan continued, "Both the board and I personally would like to thank Cathal Magee for the enormous work he has done while in his role as Acting Group CEO. Since his appointment to that role, Cathal has worked very closely with a range of key eircom stakeholders and initiated difficult but necessary programmes which are critical to secure the future of the company. These include concluding the Stage 1 Accord on cost reductions that was agreed earlier this week."

ENDS