So couple of pointers here when dealing with recruiters...
1. Never...ever...trust them...ever...not even one time...you got to remember...that job did not just get posted to whatever recruiter you were working with...that job got posted to prob a 100 different firms...so anytime a recruiter tells you he got an in, he know the hiring manager, he yadda yadda yadda...bullshyt...I have recruiters submit a candidate to me, I go out and meet the dude, recruiter yapping me up like we friends and I never seen the dude before...So when dealing with recruiters the expectation should be that you never hear from them again...anything else is just going to be heartbreak...the only person who can really get you a job at a company...is a real life true HR person who works at that company...anybody else is doing nothing but tossing your resume in a pile, which you can do for yourself...
2. I see you said you reached out to the recruiter and he didn't reply...that is because he is off to the other guy...that is what recruiters do...it is a numbers game to them...the more they submit the more likely they get the candidate that gets the job...the more likely they get paid...did you discuss price with this dude? If possible try not to do that...because if you say you will do it for say 22 an hour...and he calls the next guy who says he will do it for 20 an hour...then the recruiter just made himself 2 bucks an hour...
3. The best way to deal with a recruiter when they call is to ask them what the job roles are...ask them what the expected pay is...ask them to send you an email with the job description...if they can't do at least 2 out of the 3 quck fast in a hurry then
4. Big companies like IBM churn and burn IT helpdesk people pretty quick...there is a reason that job is always open...of course you have to get your foot in the door but prepare yourself for the job to suck...you will have users who say you are the reason they can't do any work because "their system is down" and you will have sys admins who probably won't know much more than you do swear that whatever issue you find "is a helpdesk problem, not a sys admin problem. There is nothing wrong with the AD server, Exchange server, CIF server..."
Unfortunately IT is not the fairy tale land that all the websites and newscast say it is...especially in the beginning...it is probably THE hardest field for someone to break into...simply because there are more jobs than people and companies know they can get some guy who has been out of a job for 6 months to do it for pennies on the dollar...and not sure how it works in Dublin but in the states it is almost impossible to get an IT job without a degree...
If you decide to stick with it then good luck to you...it is hard to break in...but once you are in it a few years you will always be able to find someone to hire you and pay you less than your last job...it's the IT way...