I have tried both, and prefer without as I find it simpler and more effective. But a lot depends on the action of the rod, and how you play the fish. For instance, I try not to have my forearm along the handle and try to go even more limp wristed than normal when playing a fish.
For deep Irish venues try to make sure you have a braid that sinks and use a big enough lead that you can keep in contact with,with a bit of tow on your fishing a lake but thinking river.

for most bream fishing up to about 70 yds i use 20ft of 6lb mono,never had any problems before,if your not used to fishing with braid i wouldnt advise going direct straight away and make sure you use a soft through actioned rod

i use a shockleader of 6lb mono about 1.5 times rod length,knot wise i use a double grinner and have never had any problems but it will depend on your rod has some feeder quiver tips have small eyes,so a rod with bigger eyes like the browning king feeder is ideal.
i have used braid direct before but suffered too much with crack offs,especially at the line clip.

try this link
http://www.matchangler.com/component/content/55.html?task=view

Tried both when I used to fish in Ireland, its better and less complicated fishing without a shockleader, use a braid bungee these take the lunges out of fish at the net.

I’ve always used a shockleader 6lb is about right. The advice about having a rod which has tips with big enough eyes is very valid, otherwise the shockleader knot will catch sooner or later and you will crack off. I have tried bungees and while they are okay when the fish are being quite aggressive and in running water situations, I think for delicate stillwater skimmer fishing they are no use, and that’s when you really need braid for bite indication anyway.

After seeing one of the top coarse anglers here in DK fish without a leader a few years ago, I have since used it straight through too… I had a few hooklengths break the first few times (This was when the fishing was good here…lol) but got used too it in the end and started to catch fish on it.

Oh and I agree with the soft rod!

I can imagine an old Drennan IM6 Medium Feeder would be perfect for that… I sold mine years ago 😡 😡 😡