why is glass so expensive in Ireland ?

Does anyone know why are we getting charged crazy money for glass in this country ?
I m not talking about a few percent difference in price compared to our european neighbours but 100 % and over so it is actually cheaper to get already made tanks abroad and pay for a courrier to have them delivered than getting the glass cut in Ireland

because we live in ireland we get ripped off with every thing we buy.

I maybe wrong but I don't think there is any glass making factory in Ireland so it's imported and 23% vat plus import duty and costs all add up.

You are right in saying there are are no glass manufacturers in Ireland but i m not sure if there was it will make a difference...I will give you the example of hardwood timber in Ireland. Buying irish hardwood will cost you more than buying imported ones, real pity, i would rather make furniture using the local material.
Regarding the vat, you would get charged more or less the same rate in our neighbouring countries.

I've delivered glass to Carey glass and it was imported from China.

hi ,my mother in law worked in careys glass in nenagh ,they do not manufacture glass , all their glass is imported and cut on site for window and doors units as are their mirrors .

There is no glass manufacturer (glass smelter) in Ireland. I asked in every place that i ever bought glass from. All the glass comes here from abroad. There is few factors that makes it so expensive here.
- glass is heavy so cost of transportation is high
- it's difficult to transport and there are relatively high loses
- there are rather large loses in processing (relatively large amount of useless of cuts)
- processing the panes of glass is labor intensive (polishing, cutting, drilling requires at least worker supervision) nothing is fully automatic, and labor ain't cheap here.
- insurance in the industry is very high

And just word of advice. None of the couriers or courier services insures glass, so ordering fish tank from abroad means it's your own risk.