Hey all.. not sure what section this really belongs in so i'll ask here and let saint move it if he wants

I'm curious, for those that ship internationally, what method would you use to get to ireland? I have a relatively small 22 inch long 4 inch tube I need to get there but the very cheapest i've found is 30 bucks at USPS and UPS and nearly double that at DHL and Fedex. What methods have you all used in the past that may not be so expensive? I ship to the UK fairly often and the prices are usually half that, why so much to ireland?
/b