I moved over in July (not as a controller though). In a nutshell, and as someone who moved from the south of England, it's all good.
I sold my 2 bed flat for substantially more than the fully-detached house with 3 bedrooms, finished basement, swimming pool, two-car garage and large garden I bought over here. For comparison purposes, a Subaru Impreza WRX is $35000 over here, versus 32k pounds in England. Petrol is currently about 63 cents a litre, versus whatever it is in England. And all this with an exchange rate of $2.4/pound. I put down 35% on my house and still have enough left over to buy everything outright.
The downside is unexpected but extremely frustrating. I stayed in a hotel for the first week I was here and as a consequence couldn't open a bank account because I didn't have an address. I found a place to stay that didn't require a bank account, but then had to get someone to send me a utility bill with my name on it. Of course no one will sign you up because you don't have any history. Credit ratings also do not cross the Atlantic, so buying furniture or cars or getting credit cards can be entertaining. And you will NEED a car!
As far as health care goes, the same complaints are levelled against the system in Canada as in England. Assuming you do the immigration thing and have all your papers in order for when you arrive, you have to wait 3 months to join the health system. Buy visitors health insurance BEFORE you leave Ireland. I tore all the ligaments in my ankle on my second weekend here (football - that figures!) and couldn't get treatment for it.
Things are generally cheaper here, although they give you a lot of control on exactly what you are getting. So with banks, they will charge you for all your transactions, but you can sign up for loads of different plans to reduce that cost.
I don't know about education, but I know that the rubbish English system of paying for tuition, etc. at University has been in place for ages over here. That said, you can buy into a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) to build up a sum of money (although be careful, because some of them are only redeemable with a University you choose when you take out the policy).
There are few pensions as such. But you can contribute to an RRSP up to 13.5% of your salary. Don't cash in your Irish pension - it'll be a good source of income in later life (in addition to your RRSP).
Controllers generally get well above the national average salary, and, as I understand it, even get above a Toronto average salary.
That's all I can think of now. In summary though, I don't regret moving over here. The people are great, I love the snow and the sun (all year round, although in the summer the temp frequently exceeded 35 deg C) and people seem to appreciate your skills and work (likewise, they'll not give you something for nothing). I didn't want to look back and think that I shouldn've done it.