I am 59 with €3m cash and no income


Would agree with you on point 2, but there is no guarantee that a professional will generate better returns than you could get yourself with proper research (nothing a 59 year old business man/woman couldn't learn!).

If you know of a professional who would have advised cash or shorting the irish market this year then they'd be worth paying for advice!
 
Advising someone at 60 to start playing the stockmarket with their pension pot is something I would not recommend.

Some top ranked investors would be 1/3 in cash at present. Being 1/3 in cash may not always be appropriate but the world is littered with investors who wanted higher returns without the higher risk only to find that they generally travel together.

this week all we have to do is look at the credit union with 10m of losses on ITSC bonds, the norwegian towns who have lost millions, not to mention during the summer a couple of german regional banks who have €bs of euro losses.......most of these investors thought they were relatively risk free
 
I could perhaps add in some investment advice which I believe in but fear my advice will be torn to shreds
So I will say only this:

The 3 most important factors when it comes to investment are research! research! research!
Discover the level of risk and return which makes your happiest. You can employ advisers to advise you but you dont have to take their advice. Put all fees and advice in context. Some people can fret over fees of 200 euro while at the same time spending 5 grand on a holiday.

Inertia can result from too many opposite points of view but ask yourself this question:
Looking back historically when have the times ever been not uncertain?
 
Re: I am 59 with €3m cash and no income

Oh come now....we're not that bad are we?

Ok well I dont want to be giving advice without also warnings about where the buck lies but one option with relatively low risk which I can think of is finding a commercial property in a good location with a solid long term tenant (such as a McDonalds which appears to make money even when times are lean) on a long lease with regular upward rent reviews. This property doesnt have to be in Ireland. It could be in Germany for example. The important thing is that it is in a good location. Its possible to live off the rental yield after all expenses are paid and even gear it very slightly according to the OP's low tolerance for risk but a lot of research would need to be done. McDonalds was just a suggestion of what my angle is.
A lot of research would need to be done like for any investment. The capital value of the property wouldnt be important in the short term if the OP 's plan was not to sell but to live off the rent and eventually pass the property on as an inheritance.



*note I dont want this to be seen as any kind of speculation on any property market anywhere. The chief advantage I see would be a secure income from a secure tenant and perhaps some key money of secondary importance*