Original sentence: Due to EU laws requiring the opening up of the Irish telecommunications market, Eircom was privatised, a process which began in 1995, and by July 1999 the government had disposed of virtually  all of its shareholding.Eircom was then floated on the Dublin, New York and London stock exchanges on July 8 1999 and small/first-time investors were encouraged by the Irish Government to buy shares.Many of the 500,000 small investors were angered by the significant financial loss they incurred, blaming the government for not sufficiently warning them of the risks inherent in stock market investment.Mary O'Rourke, as the minister responsible for Eircom, lost her seat in the 2002 Irish general election largely because of this public anger over the Eircom flotation.The Eircom flotation is considered to have been an example of a stock market bubble - after the initial hype of the flotation died down, the stock price fell rapidly
Edited sentence: As a result, thousands of Irish small investors now have small holding in Vodafone.Due to EU laws requiring the opening up of the Irish telecommunications market, Eircom was privatised, with the theory that this would break their monopoly position.Eircom as a private company still has public service requirements.Eircom was then floated on the stock exchange, at what proved to be an inflated share price, small/first-time investors were encouraged by the Irish Government to buy shares.Many however, considered this to be asset stripping from a public service body.Mary O'Rourke, as the minister responsible for Eircom, lost her seat in the 2002 Irish general election partly because of the shares fiasco that resulted from the telecoms, technology and general stock market bubble bursting in May 2000.With Eircom in private ownership, the highly profitable mobile phone division, Eircell, was sold to Vodafone