I don't know where they got their exchange rates but I haven't seen the US$ that strong for years! They don't seem to allow payment in dollars for delivery to Ireland.
I'm not so sure it was that good an advertisement for model railways. Tubridy seemed to suggest that it might not work, and it didn't perform too well. It was derailed before it even started and, well, the crash has already been mentioned.
Good to hear of another prodigal railway modeller. There is no reason why you can't have sessions on different days for running Irish and BR stock on your layout. Especially since that real life issue of track guage can be ignored.
Good to have a close look at the latest version of the Dart at the show in Blackrock today. It is an impressive model with special features such as the arcing pantograph.