Although Ireland and Germany share a common currency, we do not share a common cheque clearing system so there are additional costs in getting value for the cheque from the bank in Germany.
Earlier this year I bought an item on ebay from Switzerland and Paypal was not an option for payment. I went to my local Bank and looked for a draft. They suggested that I use Swiftpay and ended up charging me €38 for a €25 payment, i.e. total cost €63.
I succeeded in getting most of it refunded.