It's not totally impossible. I earn more than €75k (+ bonus) with no qualifications - although I did do some part time/evening courses that my employer paid for after I'd worked here for a few years. Got 375 in the LC I think, but that was a good while ago so I may be way off there. I did some 3rd level stuff but never saw it out. I did Science for a year in DCU, dropped out. Went to work in a warehouse and moved into the office from about 19-23/4, then the recession hit and I was let go. Went back to study design and dropped out, then worked some pretty shitty jobs for a year or two. I work for a construction company now on the pre-construction side and I've been here 8ish years.

I had a broad enough mix of skills and experience for my now employer to take a chance on me in a very niche role they were struggling to fill, and it's worked out. My supervisor also has no qualifications either and I assume she earns more than me, seeing as she's my boss and all...

The only thing we (my boss and I) have in common is that (as I said above) what we do is pretty difficult to find people for, and we both worked hard to become good at it and therefore become important parts of the business. It's not going to be everyone's story, but it does happen.