On the Ireland thing:
I've been in contact with an Irishman and according to him the BS 1363 is and remains the only socket in use in Ireland. However, the Irish system was originally built by German companies, and thus the German voltages (220/380), fuses (Diazed, Neozed) and the Schuko plug found their way to Ireland. The Schuko was discontinued when the BS 1363 was introduced.
I can see two possible explanations for the reports of Schukos or French sockets in Ireland. a) Someone has found an really old socket. b) Someone has for some reason installed them, e.g. an hotel as a service for European guests.
BTW. An interesting topic popped up at uk.d-i-y: Ring mains are now required to be designed in such a way that the load on each leg does not exceed 20A.
