50 years and four days in the European Union today

The EU is a free trade area. That's what the single market and customs union are. But both those things require that everyone adopts the same laws and regulations. To do that you need to pool sovereignty. And what happens if one of those rules/laws needs to change or be updates? You end up with the EU commission,EU parliament etc or an equivalent set of bodies.

The EU is still a free trade area, a highly integrated free trade area but a free trade area. Brexit shows that. Countries are free to leave whenever they want. If you only want a free trade area what's your problem with the EU? Why are you not celebrating Ireland being part of the biggest multi national free trade area in the world for 50 years?

Enlighten me... give me one, just one, of these conspiracy theories.

Free trade. Indeed.

I think the U.K. experience so far in leaving the single market is a cautionary tale for any other country considering it and euro scepticism appears to have dialled down a lot the past few years as a possible result. While I’m a critic of the eu (which is healthy debate) and especially the way our lot tend to hide behind it on balance I’d sooner be in. The political project I’m a lot more lukewarm on for reasons above

The phenomenon of punishment for left-handedness originated in Germany and spread all over the world including to the United States and Britain.

Its not some uniquely Irish thing.

I was born the year before Ireland Joined the EEC as it was then. Of course I cannot describe Ireland in the year of my birth but my parents and grandparents did so. It was utterly poverty stricken. Women were 2nd class citizens, required to retire by the civil service when they married, indeed many private companies including some banks required them to do so also.

The population was 2.9 million. GNP (Not GDP) per capita in 1971 was less than half of the The USA. Graduates emigrated. While our constitution protected freedom of worship the reality was that the bishop of Dublin John Charles McQuaid was a more powerful figure than Minister of Health Dr. Noel Browne and proved a mere decade and half before we joined the EC.

In 50 years, our population has almost doubled, our real GNP per capita is about 400% higher relative to the US or the UK compared to our position in 1972. We are now a truly equal society (or at least well on that path) and we are now a pluralist and multicultural society. It is a far far better country. I do not think it is as simple as saying that it due to the EU, it is fair to say however that we did use the EU to get to the place we are far sooner than would otherwise have been possible.

The EU rapidly brought Ireland along. Huge amounts of money and help were given, to the point where we have now received 40 billion euro more than we have given. All of which has been used over the decades to lead to great improvement. Modern Ireland owes everything to EU membership really.

I'm not sure the kids who got beat would take any solace in that, of course that was just one of many authoritarian type experiences many young people in Ireland experienced growing up here. We were a very intolerant people, it serves no purpose to ignore the lessons in our past.

From 1973 up to 2018 Ireland was a net recipient of over €40 billion in EU funds.

I thought everyone knew that we received more than we paid in 🤷‍♂️

*Up until 2018 when we became net contributors.

No, 3 years. It really is very easy to find, I was not joking when I asked if the sky was blue.

Took a 2 second google search. I am actually utterly baffled how anyone could think Ireland historically is not a massive net receiver of EU funds.

However I would argue that being a net receiver of funds was the least important benefit we received. The most important benefits have been FDI, single market, common labour standards and free movement.