PRESS RELEASE

03/21/2001

THE IRISH INVESTMENT FUND ANNOUNCES NEW INVESTMENT STRATEGY AND NAME CHANGE

Boston, Massachusetts, Date: 21st March, 2001: The Board of Directors of the Irish Investment Fund, Inc., ("the Fund") has approved a new investment strategy aimed at taking advantage of significant changes that have occurred in the Irish economy over the past few years. To reflect this change the Board also approved a new name for the Fund -THE NEW IRELAND FUND, INC.

The Board and the Fund's advisors plan to take all appropriate measures to advance the Fund's investment objective of long-term capital appreciation over the coming years. Consistent with this objective, going forward, the Fund's investment portfolio will have a bias towards both listed and, to a lesser extent, unlisted high-growth Irish companies, drawn primarily from the technology, telecommunications and healthcare sectors, which better reflect the current economic and market dynamics of Ireland.

The Board stated that the Fund will not invest exclusively in these high-growth sectors but will also continue to invest in other Irish companies that can deliver long-term capital appreciation. The adoption of this strategy is the natural evolution of many of the things the Fund has been doing over the last number of years. In this period, the Fund has had a positive experience investing in both listed and unlisted Irish high-growth stocks, and the Board has now determined that the Fund should have greater flexibility to invest in these areas.

Mr. Peter Hooper, Chairman of the Fund, said: "The Irish Investment Fund and its shareholders have enjoyed almost a decade of strong Irish economic growth. The Ireland we invest in today bears little relationship to the economy that existed when the Fund was launched in April 1990. We believe the investment strategy of the Fund must move in tandem with the indigenous direction of the economy while maintaining its primary objective of long-term capital appreciation."

Since the Fund was launched in 1990, Ireland has enjoyed an eleven-year period during which economic growth, in GDP terms, has averaged 7.0% per annum. This is the highest rate of annual growth achieved in either the European Union or the OECD. In line with this growth, the unemployment rate in Ireland has declined from 16.3% in 1993 to 3.6% at the present time. However, these impressive statistics do not truly capture the transformation in the industrial landscape of the economy over the past decade.

The heart of this economic growth story has been Ireland's success in attracting high levels of inward investment with a particular focus on high-technology and pharmaceutical companies. Ireland's young, well-educated labor force and pro-business government policies have been critical success factors. Today, Ireland is a key center of operations for many leading companies from these industries, including Intel, Microsoft, Dell, Pfizer, Merck, Novartis and Ericsson.

This environment has benefited not only the international companies but also Ireland's domestic companies drawn from these industries. As an example of these trends, a successful domestic software industry has emerged over the past decade. In 1998, the most recent year for which figures are available, Ireland was the world's largest exporter of software with a significant portion of such exports being generated by domestic Irish companies.

In compliance with recently announced SEC rules, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in Irish companies. The Fund will also have the flexibility to invest its remaining assets in non-Irish companies that are listed on a recognized stock exchange.

The Fund is a closed end mutual fund managed by Bank of Ireland Asset Management (U. S.) Limited and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol IRL.

For further information, please contact the Fund at (800) 468-6475.