Missy,
It is worth remebering that the piece of airspace being discussed is in the middle of the atlantic. In terms of being close to a territory, it is closer to Ireland than to Scotland. That is how a radar located in Ireland can provide the coverage while ones located in Scotland can not.
Balix,
The North Sea is another thred but very similar. In the North Sea case, management are putting money ahead of safety while in this case, the ATCOs are putting money before safety.
One very important point is that the UK's airspace extends to 3nm from the shore. Beyond that it has airspace under control as a result of international agreement.
Regards,
DFC