Agree with the answers so far. Except that there is one case where an IMC is useful in getting an IR.
Step 1: get an IMC rating.
Step 2: get an FAA IR. Can't remember the exact requirements, but it's something like 40 hours of instrument flying, of which 25 have to be with an approved instructor, following an approved course. The rest can be anything you like - such as an IMC course.
Step 3: convert your FAA IR to a JAR IR, which requires a minimum of 15 hours of flying.
This is a more expensive route than just getting an IR. But I think it's more interesting. And if you've already got an IMC rating before you decide to go for the IR, it's probably the cheapest/quickest/easiest way of doing it.
FFF
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