IO540,
I'd love to get a IR. In fact I hope to someday.
However as I fly just for fun, and have no commerical ambitions in aviation, the cost of an IR is just too prohibitive!
Unfortunately here in Ireland, we don't have an equviliant of an IMC rating either.
As for going to the US and getting an IR....well the only N reg a/c I have ever seen over here was a Gulf Stream IV!!! I believe there are some around, they but aren't available to me to hire here in Dublin.
But then again an IR is another completely different topic!
dp