Most Irish wind/weather hits Britain after a lag of a day or so (=/-) but that lag is, of itself, important in load balancing, as you point out.  Only occasional large anti-cyclones give similar (relatively calm) conditions to both Britain and Ireland at the same time.  (It's been so long since we've had one, I'll gladly power down the heating if it happens...)

I'm not sure why wave power seems perennially stuck at the "experimental" stage - the problems (to me) seem to be more financial than technical.

Index of Frank's Diaries