I do love Ireland...
"As a quick anecdote... I was travelling via Stena Line from the UK to Ireland and under the apparent misunderstanding that both the UK and ROI were in the Common Travel Area. I mistakenly put my passport in my baggage which was stowed in the hold. Upon arriving at Dun Laoghaire, there was a single Garda giving a cursory look at Passports, I explained that I did not have mine and was given a "your fine sure, on you go". Very pleasant.."
Ha, love that Irish attitude. As a further anecdote, my brother was living in Japan and he travelled to Ireland with his Japanese fiancée. When she got to the passport control, he went through the EU chute, then waited for her. As the passport control officer went to check through her passport, he noticed my brother, and said "Is she with you?". He said yes, and got "Go on so", her passport was stamped and off she went :)
Heathrow, on the other hand... the staff were very pleasant actually, but the queues in Terminal one are always huge and I've never seen more than three metal detectors open at the same time. After a long flight, waiting in line for multiple hours is the last thing you want to do, and, of course, you can't take your duty free through the damn place. No "Go on so" there...
On an unrelated note - it would be nice to get basic styling in comments - bold and emphasis would be nice.