I put this shrub up on the local plant ID forum last year but got no answer.
The photos were taken in late June and it had just finished flowering. I probably should have pruned it then but left it as I didn't know what it was.
Going back there tomorrow and still no wiser.
It's in a garden in a mild coastal area in Ireland, in a sunny site, ca 1 meter (3') high with a lax, arching habit and leathery leaves (opposite) with serrated edges. Flowers look like they were probably white. I'm pretty certain it's an evergreen.
Maybe some kind of parahebe I don't know about?
Thanks!

Pics are not showing detail very clearly.
Maybe Ligustrum sp.
Ligustrum japonica?
N.B My comments here seem weird.
Originally to start with there were only 2 pics...1 and 2.
Further pics 3.4 and 5 with clearer detail got added later on Mar 1, 2024 10:25 AM

I know! I should have taken close-ups for ID purposes. Will do so tomorrow. Don't think it's a ligustrum but I could be wrong.

I tried Google Lens/Images for the heck of it and it brought up quite a few possibilities. Pieris japonica or Pieris florabunda seem the closest, but can't be sure once I start looking through them in full bloom.

Not sure if this is tied to me and the photo in a way you can't access, but hopefully you can see the choices at this link.

I don't think it's a pieris, though I can see why AI would have thought it is - going by the flowers mainly. I would recognise pieris as I know it well - unless of course this is some very unusual variety. I'll have a look at it tomorrow and all will be revealed (I hope).

Looks like a Ligustrum

crawgarden said: Looks like a Ligustrum

I agree. Ligustrum japonicum, the most annoying plant ever created.

Lucy68 said: I agree. Ligustrum japonicum, the most annoying plant ever created.

Rule out Ligustrum japonicum. The shrub up for ID has serrated leaf margins.

Lucy have you had both L. japonica and sinense? IMO, sinense is the most annoying plant because it makes the "whole world" smells sooo bad for a few weeks, but I have no basis of comparison.

I have no opinion about the ID from the pics here so far, just curiosity about the annoyance level.

I assumed we had L. japonicum but it took me years to get to that ID. They reseed everywhere and not much kills them.

Thanks all!
I have uploaded some more photos - close-ups of leaves and stems.
To me it looks very much like some outsized parahebe, except I don't know of one that gets this big. Doesn't look like any ligustrum I know, but then again we don't get many varieties of it in Ireland. L delavayanum and L japonicum, and that's about it.
The stems look like very like those of hebe.

Now I am leaning towards a Salvia sp.

doesn't really look and feel like a salvia to me. It's very annoying because I feel I should know it, but just cannot place it.
It also reminds me a little of phygelius, but the flowers of phygelius are bigger, and it wouldn't have been out of flower in June. Neither does it have the distinctive smell of that when you cut it.
I'm totally baffled by this thing

The pictures didn't post.

Added to the original post.

Not Ligustrum.

Agree not Ligustrum.
Nor Ilex.
Interesting.....
It sort of reminds me of a New Zealand plant I know.
I knew it as Hebe hulkeana but checking www I see it is now called Veronica hulkeana.
Maybe worth checking.
Evergreen/opposite leaves,/margins toothed/ pretty flowers in lax panicles or raceme.

https://www.nzplants.auckland....

That does look much like the plant in question to me too.

The foliage looks a lot like Salvia buchananii.