The New Ireland Fund, Inc. Announces Special Stock/Partial Cash Election Distribution

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - Dec 15, 2015) - The New Ireland Fund, Inc. (NYSE: IRL) (the "Fund"), a closed-end fund, today announced that the Fund's Board of Directors has declared a long-term capital gain distribution in the amount of US$0.9710 per share. The distribution is comprised wholly of long-term capital gains. There are no short-term capital gains or net investment income.

The distribution will be payable on January 29, 2016 to stockholders of record on December 29, 2015. The distribution will be paid in shares of the Fund's common stock. Stockholders may, however, request that their distribution be paid in cash in lieu of common stock. The Fund will limit the aggregate amount of cash to be paid out in the distribution to all stockholders to 20% of the aggregate dollar amount of the total distribution. Any cash paid in lieu of fractional shares will not count toward this limit. If cash distribution requests exceed this limit, the Fund will pro-rate the cash distribution among all stockholders who have made such requests, based on the amounts requested. Stockholders electing cash, who do not receive 100% of the distribution in cash, will receive the balance in shares of common stock of the Fund.

Stockholder requests to receive cash in lieu of stock must be received by American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, the Fund's Election Agent, not later than 4:00 p.m. (New York time) on January 20, 2016. All fractional shares will be paid in cash.

The per share value of shares of the Fund's common stock to be issued in the distribution will be determined on January 25, 2016. The per share value will be the average trading price of the Fund's common shares on the New York Stock Exchange as of the close of trading during a three-business day period ending on January 25, 2016. Although the distribution is payable in 2016, it will be treated as having been paid by the Fund and received by stockholders as of December 31, 2015.

The Board of Directors considered available options, including an all-cash distribution and a cash election distribution with higher caps or no cap on the cash component, and approved the capped cash election distribution at the proposed 20% level for the following reasons:

• The size of the distribution relative to the size of the Fund.
  
  
• The adverse long-term impact on the Fund's investable capital if the distribution was paid entirely in cash.
  
  
• The potential market impact of selling the Fund's portfolio securities at a time when market conditions may be less favorable to stockholders' long-term interests.
  
  
• The tax implications if further gains were generated as a result of the sale of portfolio securities to raise cash to meet an all-cash or high-cash distribution.
  
  

A written notice of the planned distribution will be sent to stockholders. The written notice will include instructions on how stockholders can request to receive cash in lieu of stock.

The final determination of the source and tax characteristics of all distributions in 2015 will be made after December 31, 2015.

Stockholders who have questions regarding the distribution may contact the Fund at (800) 468-6475 or investor.query@newirelandfund.com.

Closed-end funds are traded on the secondary market through one of the stock exchanges. The Fund's investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares may be worth more or less than the original cost. Shares of closed-end funds may trade above (a premium) or below (a discount) the net asset value (NAV) of the fund's portfolio. There is no assurance that a fund will achieve its investment objective. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

The Fund is managed by Kleinwort Benson Investors International Ltd., a subsidiary of Kleinwort Benson Investors Dublin Ltd., 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 or investor.query@newirelandfund.com.

Website: www.newirelandfund.com