The cost of bandwidth in the Uk is a lot higher than in the US, if you check for hosting/dedicated servers in the UK you will notice that the price is higher, I think in Ireland it would be even more.

I cant even do colo simply because there are no datacentres here, I dont think I ahve the knowledge, time or money to build a DC myself in Ireland either. It wouldnt bring in much money from other hosts either to be honest as its so much cheaper to get a dedicated in the US.

its a pittty really because I would love to have a DC near me, even if it cost more I would get at least one server there for sites im hosting that are mainly for a UK/ireland audience.