Hi guys

Thanks for all the feedback. I ended up tinkering about it some more during the weekend. Turns out the holes are 6mm which made me think of older 5mm shifter cables. With the additional width of a ferule that would add up to 6mm. I tried fitting a brake cable with a Jagwire ferule (seems a bit thicker than the Shimano ones) and the fitment was pretty good. It was still at an angle due to the minor damage but I was able to drill out the holes a bit further making it sit a lot better. Now I just need to source a 5mm shifter cable and hopefully it should work.