Please, no need to apologise, I have no idea what the new style UK licences look like and in fact I don't think I've ever seen one of the Irsh licences with photographs.
When I moved to the UK in the mid 80s, I had an Irish licence, I'm fairly sure I had to convert it but I can't recall the reason why. When I returned from the UK a few years ago it never really came up, every time I've been asked about my licence eg do I have a full Irsih licence I always say no I have a full English they all say thats fine. Recently when renewing my insurance severl companies actually asked me if I had a full Irish or Uk licence, and some even asked me if I had a full European.
During the year I was caught speeding and fined €80 and given two points, I phoned up to enquire what would happen next and was told by the Gardai that they couldn't be put on my licence but would be held on a database in case the law ever changed. I enquired whether or not I should declare then to my insurance company, the Garda I spoke to said he didn't really know. When my insurance came up for renewal I called them up to explain the situation and to honestly declare the points, they didn't really know what to do so contacted the insurance company who confirmed that as far as they were concerned I had no points on my licence, they also said that even if I had two points it wouldn't affect the premium. They also thanked me for my openess...