They roped you guys into the EU by promising that the Irish economy would be even stronger than the roaring "Celtic Tiger" it already was, and then...
No need to be so self-deprecatIng. After all, who civilized the English? The Romans. And, who civilized the Romans? The Greeks...ad infinitum...
And, of course, who saved civilization?
The only alternative to patriotism and nationalism is regionalism and globalism, and those are bad roads. If you disagree, imagine a world where your currently favorite store became the only store on the planet, and attempt to rationalize how it wouldn't lose every attribute that makes it your current favorite...and THAT's Globalism...on a good day.