I think somehow that was a UK vs Irish standards issue..
Irish consumer units / panels always have a main fuse or, in very recent ones, a main breaker. The idea being that if the consumer overloads the system completely the service fuse doesn't blow but rather the main fuse / breaker on the panel will blow or trip first.
As far as I'm aware, but please correct me if I'm wrong, other countries including the UK don't necessarily have a main fuse / breaker on the panel and rely on the service fuse before the meter.
Our regs were incrediably slow to accept the idea of a main breaker, most new panels still have a main neozed fuse!
