With all due respect, you’re implying that Ireland has autonomy under the EU. They do not. Before the EU leadership accumulated the power it now has, Irish language speaking was on the rise and the country passed the strongest anti-abortion laws any nation had; forty years later, under the EU sway the native language declined, and pro-abortion and pro-homosexual “marriage” laws passed in the form of constitutional amendments.
That may be true, but they made the decision.
They collectively decided that being under the thumb of the EU and getting the economic “benefits” from such an arrangement was preferable than being independent.
It’s interesting, though, that Hungary and Poland have defied the EU on many occasions and they haven’t been kicked out of the club. They’ve shown that you don’t necessarily need to knuckle under.
And the reason is that the EU is very loathe to lose more members, so they’re walking a fine line.