Ireland and America Connection

Ireland and America: The American connection

Over my short stay in Ireland I’ve noticed a strong connection between the Irish people and America that is peculiar to most European countries. From my experiences with other Europeans, they feel somewhat connected to America threw obvious things like movies and fast food but besides these few things their connection with America is minimal. On the other hand, the Irish people appear to have a connection to America that is much stronger than their fellow Europeans. Explanations for this strong cultural bond are obvious; Irish people have been emigrating to the U.S. for almost 200 years now and many of them have family in the states.

Furthermore, the Irish people seem to have a strong aversion to anything European and dislike their membership in the European Union. Part of this animosity towards the European Union can be explained by the economic crisis happening right now, but after talking with many Irishmen I’ve found that many of them feel like Ireland “sold out” when they joined the EU. When the Irishmen talk about traveling they never speak of their journeys to the European continent, they talk about their travels in the U.S. They always talk about moving to the United States as if its their secondary place of residence—no transition, they can simply move their and become an American. This is very unusual for most people. Despite strong Irish patriotism, they will easily give up their life in Ireland for an American one.