Eircom chief executive, Mr Alfie Kane, characterised his relationship with the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, as "pragmatic" yesterday and said he did not know whether she had refused to shake hands with him at a function in Dublin last Friday.

Questioned by Marian Finucane about the apparent rebuff at the annual conference of the Small Firms' Association, Mr Kane said: "It's a good question to put to the Minister."

He also said he was unsure why people were so interested in the relationship between himself and Ms O'Rourke.

A deterioration in that relationship can probably be traced back to Mr Kane's comments earlier this year that Eircom shares were overpriced at flotation.

Mr Kane said he regretted that those comments became "personalised" in so far as they related to Ms O'Rourke. "That was unfortunate and was not my intention," he said yesterday.

The Eircom chief executive insisted he had a "pragmatic" working relationship with the Minister.

Ms O'Rourke's spokesman would not comment on the handshake incident, saying she and Mr Kane enjoyed a "pragmatic working relationship".