PRESS RELEASE

05/02/2005

The New Ireland Fund, Inc.

Boston, Massachusetts, May 2, 2005: - The Board of Directors of The New Ireland Fund, Inc. are pleased to announce the appointment of Brendan Donohoe as President and Director of the Fund. Mr. Donohoe, President of Bank of Ireland Asset Management (U.S.) Limited (“BIAM (U.S.)”), the Fund’s Adviser, will replace Denis Curran, his predecessor at BIAM (U.S.).

  Prior to his appointment to the Presidency of BIAM (US), Mr. Donohoe was Bank of Ireland Asset Management’s Regional Director, Asia/Pacific, based in Melbourne, Australia, prior to which he was, consecutively, Head of Institutional Client Services and Head of Business Development, at the Advisor’s headquarter operations in Dublin, Ireland.

The New Ireland Fund is a closed-end diversified investment company that seeks long-term capital appreciation through investing at least 80% of its assets in a portfolio of Irish securities. The Fund is managed by Bank of Ireland Asset Management (U. S.) Limited and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol – IRL.

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