What has the E.U.done for Ireland?

I meet hundreds of Irish people every week, and it absolutely amazes me how many of them seem to think we should be beholden to the E.U."It's been good for us",they say. Or, some such off the shelf phrase. Something they've heard; they reiterate it parrot fashion as they go about,head down, enjoying their new prosperity, and,I sometimes think, like Pip out of Great Expectations,trying to appear and sound grateful. The common picture they seem to have of themselves, along with many people in other countries, like Britain ,Germany and France,is of "Oh yes, ha ha,the Irish",-the beggars holding out the caps to the E.U. And the E.U.loves to hold us up as a shining example of what happens when a country joins them! And it works!They're falling over themselves to get in!
Well,let me tell you all, nothing could be further from the truth! Ireland owes it's prosperity, not to the E.U., but to the multinationals from the U.S. Japan, and elsewhere, that we enticed to set up here, with favourable tax breaks and conditions!The same tax breaks that other members of the E.U. did their damndest to have taken off us by Brussels! They failed, but are now trying to get us via the back door,i.e.,Lisbon.
We pulled ourselves up by the bloody bootstraps! After 800 years we gained our freedom. And then, after all that,our bumbling excuse for a government, sold us out to the slavery of the E.U!. At least Judas got something out of what he did!
People of Ireland, Know that we are the biggest -yes!the biggest -contributor of wealth - to the E.U., next to Germany! Small and all as we are. Because the value of our birthright,in terms of resources,that was exchanged for a mess of pottage, is around 250 billion Euros.Yes!That is what we have given to the E.U.,E250bn! And it's increasing by up to 9bn a year! Not to mention the cash contributions they are now demanding that we fork out to them, now that we are rich.
Yes! Yes! You see everywhere-"funded by the E.U." And all in all,we have had a in the region of E55 bn in grants, handouts and infrastructural aid!But who do you think is getting the best of that bargain? 55bn.-250bn??
These figures are by Eurostat, official statistics keepers to the E.U. Not mine! Not Ireland's! Eurostat's! Europes'! But when did anyone from Brussels or anywhere else in the E.U. even mention it. Do they like to keep on the myth of the begging Irish? Can they not face up to the fact that they owe us big time? Or do any of them even know? Sarkosy came here to tell us how to vote! From the country that did their damndest for nearly ten years to stop us joining the EFTA in the first place! For that is what we joined! A free trade area.Not a Union, to be dictated to on everything from our laws to the mixture of Irish stew!
Our referendum was a democratic process. We must, for the sake of the very meaning of democracy, refuse to submit to another.
The Irish people are trusting.Many will find it incredible that the E.U. has shafted us. But,shaft us they did!The facts and figures are there on the internet for all to see. Eurostat can't lie about it either! "We're in uncharted waters",I hear. "Europe will penalise us"."Oh but who will we trade with?

If we leave the E.U. we will still be in the EFTA, as are Switzerland, Norway,(who did not sell it's birthrights), and Iceland, none of which are in the E.U. The WTO makes world trade rules, not the E.U! To impose penalties , or trade sanctions would be illegal! World Trade ruling is that every country must have equal access to markets. The U.K. has always been our biggest trading partner, with about 66% of our trade, and it will remain so.
Next to that is the U.S., with about 19%. That accounts for 85% of our trade, leaving 15%.for the E.U.and the rest of the 70 countries we trade with! Still worried?
People of Ireland, hold your heads up.Walk tall. You are not beholden to anyone or anything. Least of all the E.U.,which is,in fact,beholden to us!They see,in the not too distant future,the resources we have in the Irish Box,(The Atlantic Margin) Enough oil and gas to -if it was to be handled right- make us as rich as Saudi Arabia. (Google The Dept of the Marine for figures).As I've written,the people of this country suffered 800 years of slavery!But we didn't just sit on a rock somewhere waiting for aid to arrive! We overcame it, and pulled ourselves up by the bootstraps! Doubtles, the gobshites we have elected for a government will find some way of giving it all away for nothing,as they swopped our birthright in the 60's for a mess of pottage!