Posted on 05/05/2026 9:58:12 PM PDT by Olog-hai
Nearly three quarters of Irish people believe the EU should seek greater independence from the United States, an island-wide poll on attitudes to the European Union has suggested.
With just weeks to go before Ireland assumes the EU presidency, support for the European Union remains high at 82%, although down from the peak of 93% in 2019 during the Brexit negotiations.
The poll was conducted in the north and south simultaneously towards the end of March by Amárach Research on behalf of European Movement Ireland, based on a representative sample of 1,200 adults in both jurisdictions.
The poll shows that at 82%, Irish people maintain a high level of support for the European Union, but the survey also reflects greater unease about the EU’s performance in light of upheavals in geopolitics.
The numbers who say the EU is headed in the right direction has fallen from 58% in 2023 to 45% this year, with migration, economic and regulatory issues, federalism and national sovereignty among the top concerns. …
(Excerpt) Read more at rte.ie ...
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
Don’t they mean ‘less reliant on England?’ vs the U.S.?
Maybe we’re talking about trade and shipping totals.
How many of them want Africa to move in and replace them?
Is FtEU wrong?
The Potato freaks need to eschew Islam.
Otherwise they are baked...
Just how retarded are they?
Seriesly....
Yeah, that’ll last about a year.
What percentage of them support paying higher taxes for defense, or instituting a military draft?
That number will rise to 99% with just a little bit more African DNA. It won’t be long now.
They gonna provide for their own defense for a change?
They gonna get out of the way with the endless regulations and the censorship, revamp their very chummy financial system, slash taxes and allow a tech industry to grow?
Of course not. We all know they won't do any of these things. So this is just a wish that will be backed up with absolutely nothing by way of concrete action to make it happen. Its like saying "Gosh I wish I were 50 pounds lighter.....but I refuse to change my diet or do any exercise."
I agree. 20 years from now they may all may be Muslim countries, and we may have to bomb them. It’s time they go on their own.
“Well great.....but how are they going to become less reliant?”
Interesting enough they are holding their own with us and are not reliant. In February 2026, the top exports of United States to Ireland were Vaccines, blood, antisera, toxins and cultures ($387M), Integrated Circuits ($198M), and Aircraft parts (gliders, balloons, and powered aircraft) ($190M). In the same month, the main imports of United States from Ireland were Packaged Medicaments ($1.26B), Vaccines, blood, antisera, toxins and cultures ($940M), and Nucleic Acids ($513M).
And it has a history.
Exports from United States to Ireland in 2024 totaled $19.5B while exports from Ireland to United States in 2024 totaled $77.9B. Looks to me that maybe we were reliant on them.
https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-country/usa/partner/irl
wy69
Ireland has done fairly well being a bridge between the US and Europe because its English speaking and had a tax rate far lower than every other country in Europe. The question was about the EU and how does the EU/Europe in general become less dependent on the US.
- they don’t produce their own energy
- they don’t provide for their own defense
- they don’t really have a tech industry
They’ll have to fix all 3 of those to even begin to think about being Independent of the US because as is they’re massively reliant on the US for all 3.
Ireland has ALWAYS been a socialist country, ever since it became a Republic. Just take a look at the policies of one of their long time political parties Sinn Fein. Ireland has been sucking off the American teat for over a century. And then they have the gall to say they seek greater independence from the United State. What a laugh.
Michael Collins is rolling over in his grave.
I’ve been to Ireland. I have in laws who live in Dublin. The Irish are in love with America.
Might reconsider a couple of these.
“they don’t produce their own energy”
Europe produces a significant portion of its own energy, with renewables (wind, solar, hydro) now generating over 48% of the EU’s electricity as of 2024. However, Europe still relies heavily on imports for fossil fuels, importing about 90% of its oil and a high percentage of natural gas, leading to a combined energy mix that is part domestic production and part import.
“they don’t provide for their own defense”
All 27 EU member states maintain their own individual sovereign militaries, although the European Union does not have its own unified standing army. These 27 armed forces coordinate via EU security frameworks and collectively account for over 1.3 million active-duty personnel, often working within NATO (23 of 27 EU nations are members)
“they don’t really have a tech industry”
The EU is strengthening its digital infrastructure through regulation like the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act, focusing on competition, data governance, and privacy. The EU tech industry is experiencing rapid growth, now valued at nearly $4 trillion, representing 15% of European GDP and over 40,000 funded startups. Key hubs are emerging in cities like Berlin, Paris, Stockholm, and Amsterdam, with significant investments in AI and defense
But like every country or group of countries, no one can do it all on their own anymore if it came to major squabble. Iran is small potatoes and they are proving to be a real problem getting under control.
Our world is just not set up to keep countries like Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela/Columbia, Syria, Afghanistan, or rogue people within and controlling a country like Gaza with hamas, Nigeria impacted by Boko Haram and ISWAP, Somalia of which Al-Shabaab maintains control over large areas, and Pakistan with significant activity from TTP and BLA. Lots more. Too many countries, and too many problems.
And we are not separate of the EU financially or goods wise. We share the world’s most integrated economic relationship, with transatlantic trade in goods and services totaling approximately €1.6 trillion ($2,176,808,000,000) in 2023 and more today. The EU is often the top trading partner for the US, with significant, mutually reliant, and deeply intertwined supply chains. Equal? It’s like a puzzle, the pieces fit together.
wy69
Like I said....they are dependent on America because they don't produce enough of their own energy. You are talking about electricity only. Electricity is only a portion of the energy any advanced economy uses. Heating and transport are mostly fossil fuels and Europe doesn't produce anywhere near as much as it should thanks to idiotic Gaia Worship.
“they don’t provide for their own defense” All 27 EU member states maintain their own individual sovereign militaries, although the European Union does not have its own unified standing army. These 27 armed forces coordinate via EU security frameworks and collectively account for over 1.3 million active-duty personnel, often working within NATO (23 of 27 EU nations are members)
Until recently, most of them did not even meet the measly 2% threshold they all promised to achieve years ago. Most of their militaries are simply ineffective. They lack the communications, intel gathering and transport needed to effectively project power. Even supposedly strong militaries in Europe have about 2 weeks worth of ammo. It took the UK for example, a week to send a single frigate to Cyprus which was being shot at. The one ship they finally managed to send broke down and had to go to an alternate port for lengthy repairs before getting there. The German military is in even worse shape.
“they don’t really have a tech industry” The EU is strengthening its digital infrastructure through regulation like the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act, focusing on competition, data governance, and privacy. The EU tech industry is experiencing rapid growth, now valued at nearly $4 trillion, representing 15% of European GDP and over 40,000 funded startups. Key hubs are emerging in cities like Berlin, Paris, Stockholm, and Amsterdam, with significant investments in AI and defense
The Europeans make........regulation. Yeah, that sounds about right. They have one software company in Germany (SAP) and one chipmaker in the Netherlands (ASM). Other than that, they have no tech industry. There's no equivalent to Google, Apple, Amazon, Tesla, SpaceX, Nvidia, X, Microsoft, Oracle, etc etc
But like every country or group of countries, no one can do it all on their own anymore if it came to major squabble. Iran is small potatoes and they are proving to be a real problem getting under control.
I'd say the US and Israel have taken Iran apart quite effectively.
And we are not separate of the EU financially or goods wise. We share the world’s most integrated economic relationship, with transatlantic trade in goods and services totaling approximately €1.6 trillion ($2,176,808,000,000) in 2023 and more today. The EU is often the top trading partner for the US, with significant, mutually reliant, and deeply intertwined supply chains. Equal? It’s like a puzzle, the pieces fit together.
There is a significant amount of trade, yes. But the US is not reliant on the EU. It can project power all on its own. It does not rely on Europe for anything vital to national defense and it is viable on its own....its the world's largest agricultural exporter as well as the world's largest energy producer as well as the world's high tech hub.
Ireland is a sovereign, independent, democratic state.So any advantages being a republic would have afforded them do not exist. Remember, the main difference between democracies and republics is that republics have constitutions that restrain the legislators from enacting any law they please, whereas democracies do not have that restraint.
Let em eat cake. Oh, that is the french. What do the Irish eat? Beer? I ain’t Irish, so don’t really care what happens to Ireland, UK, french, germans, I-talians, the EU. I only care, have always cared, for the United States of America AS FOUNDED!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.