IRISH Life is to open its Irish and UK property funds to private investors. These funds attracted £150 million in 1999, leaving the group with total property assets of €3 billion at the end of the year. Some of the more recent acquisitions to the portfolio include Blackthorn House, a 46,000 sq ft office building in Sandyford let to Eircom, two investments in Belfield Office Campus let to the OPW and Eircom and a retail unit in Nutgrove Shopping Centre let to Lifestyle. In the UK, a number of acquisitions are in the pipeline, including a multi-let office block in the city of London, an M25 office building and a business unit near Heathrow.

Irish Life has appointed Pat Nash, formerly Property Manager in Ireland for Lidl, as senior property fund manager.