Irish Residential Property REIT announced that Eddie Byrne will replace Margaret Sweeney, taking up the role of chief executive designate from 8 April 2024 before taking up the permanent position from 1 May 2024. Sweeney notified the board in October of her intention to retire from I-RES. She will step down at the end of April after six and a half years in the role.

Byrne has more than 20 years of experience at an executive level in the real estate industry. Most recently, he was joint managing partner at Quintain Developments Ireland. During his time with Quintain, he co-established the Irish operation, which secured over 5,000 planning permissions, built and sold around 1,500 rental and private homes, and raised a significant amount of growth capital.

Prior to joining Quintain, Byrne was managing director of Hudson Advisors Ireland, where he oversaw billions of euros worth of acquisitions and disposals of real estate assets in Ireland. He also served as chief portfolio officer at Netherlands based company Propertize, where he was responsible for a large property portfolio across the Benelux countries.