Press Releases

26th February 2002

Stock Exchange Announcement

Charter Of Isle Of Innisfree / Extension Of Charter Of Pride Of Bilbao

Irish Continental Group plc, ("ICG"), announces that it has agreed to charter the m.v. "Isle of Innisfree" to P&O European Ferries (Portsmouth Ltd), ("P&O"), for a period of 5 years from 1 July 2002. Also, ICG has entered an agreement to extend the charter of the m.v. "Pride of Bilbao" to P&O, for a further 5 years, in direct continuation of the existing charter which expires in October 2002.

ICG acquired the m.v. "Pride of Bilbao" in November 1993 from its Scandinavian owners for $78 million and the vessel has been on continuous charter to P&O since that time, primarily operating a twice weekly cruise ferry service between Portsmouth and Bilbao in the Basque area of Northern Spain. The vessel, with over 2,400 beds is one of the largest night ferries in the world.

The m.v. "Isle of Innisfree" was delivered to ICG in 1995 having been constructed to ICG's specification in Rotterdam. With its 100 plus freight unit capacity the ship spearheaded the development of Irish Ferries' Dublin/Holyhead route in 1995 to 1997 and the Rosslare/ Pembroke route from 1997 to 2001. Following delivery of Irish Ferries €100m newbuilding Ulysses in 2001, the Isle of Innisfree was made available for charter. ICG understands the m.v. "Isle of Innisfree" will service the route operated between Portsmouth and Cherbourg.

These two charters provide a diversified income stream to ICG, complementing ICG's own ferry operations, connecting with the island of Ireland, and ICG's short sea container services throughout North West Europe. The charters also underpin the quality of ICG's ferry fleet, among the most modern in Europe.

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Enquiries:

Eamonn Rothwell, Managing Director Tel: 00 353 1 6075728

Garry O'Dea, Finance Director Tel: 00 353 1 6075728