Dublin City Council refused to allow Éircom to reconnect several thousand phone customers in Dublin's inner city yesterday, because of the disruption the works would have caused to rush-hour traffic.
The Éircom line at Capel Street was accidentally severed by a subcontractor working for the council.
According to the council, Éircom expressed a desire to immediately repair the cable linking subscribers north and south of the river with their telephone exchanges.
However, it claimed the work would have necessitated the closure of Capel Street to evening rush-hour traffic.
A spokeswoman told The Irish Times last night that while the incident was unfortunate, Capel Street was a very important traffic route and the council could not countenance the greater disruption of the phone service being restored.
The council said it told Éircom it could begin work at 8pm, and it hoped the service would be restored to subscribers by this morning.
Attempts to contact an Éircom spokesman were unsuccessful.
