when you get shit shipped to Ireland, they whack a big import tax on it for some reason. i bought a pair of basketball boots a while back and they doubled in price when they arrived coz of the tax. It depends who controls the importing at the time, but it changes from private companies to govt owned 'an post'.
its crap coz it means we cant buy cheaply from Sam Ash or other cheap places. If you have any info on those earplugs id like to have a look, coz i have a friend that could send it as registered post maybe