Chairman of Ireland’s largest private landlord Ires to retire

Reit board subcommittee to begin process to identify new chairman

Ires chairman Colm O’Nualláin “has indicated that he wishes to pursue business and other opportunities,” the company said. Photograph: David Sleator
Ires chairman Colm O’Nualláin “has indicated that he wishes to pursue business and other opportunities,” the company said. Photograph: David Sleator

Irish Residential Properties Reit, the State's largest private landlord, said its chairman Colm O'Nualláin will retire at the end of next month following the expiry of his initial three-year term.

"Mr O'Nualláin has indicated that he wishes to pursue business and other opportunities," said Ires, owner of 2,378 apartments in Ireland, which floated on the Irish Stock Exchange three years ago. The chairman was previously chief financial officer at Grafton Group, the builders' merchants and DIY company.

A subcommittee of Ires’s board will now commence a process to identify a new chairman, it said.

Non-executive directors

The company's existing independent non-executive directors comprise: Aidan O'Hogan, a former managing director of Hamilton Osborne King, now Savills Ireland; deputy chairman Declan Moylan, a former managing partner of law firm Mason Hayes & Curran; Margaret Sweeney, a former chief executive of airport operator DAA and now-defunct Postbank Ireland; and Phillip Burns, founder of London-based investment firm Maple Knoll Capital and former Goldman Sachs executive.

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Ires said on February 15th that its profit had risen to €47 million last year from €30.8 million as rental income had jumped about 50 per cent to €30.6 million as the trust had acquired 763 apartments and the average monthly income across its properties had risen 8.6 per cent.

The company's Canadian chief executive, David Ehrlich, said it would continue to look at acquisitions and development opportunities, after considering the Government's recent move to cap rent increases in various hot spots in Ireland including Dublin and Cork to 4 per cent a year over three years.

Joe Brennan

Joe Brennan

Joe Brennan is Markets Correspondent of The Irish Times