Why is Ireland a springboard to EU countries?

In short, Irish people are discriminated against in both British and American cultures. There are many reasons for this, and the following is my summary.

Ireland has always been relatively poor in history, and this situation did not change until the 1990s. The opportunity is the Irish government's strong support for the computer and biological industries, as well as the economic support of the European Union (Ireland was one of the poorest EU member states at that time).

Before the rapid economic development in Ireland, there was basically no decent industry in the world, but it was completely an agricultural country, to put it mildly, a farmer of one country. This has caused three results: first, the folk customs are simple; Second, farmers have more free time and have time to drink (so in the west, it is generally believed that Irish people will drink); Third, I have leisure time to engage in artistic creation, such as music and literature.

In addition, Irish people have always been famous for having children, and it is normal for a family to have more than a dozen children. This tradition has been going on for hundreds of years. At the same time, Ireland's land is barren and the climate is not suitable for growing most crops except potatoes, so many Irish people have no choice but to immigrate. There have been two potato famines in Irish history, each of which killed more than half of the population.

The destination of Irish immigrants is generally the United States, and there are many in Australia. This is why many western countries celebrate St Patrick's Day in Ireland on March 17. ) I read a statistic before, saying that one quarter of Americans today can be counted as Irish descendants. Most Irish immigrants have done some manual labor on the east coast (for example, in Boston, the "Celtic" in the Celtic team refers to a culture represented by Irish traditional culture). So in the eyes of Americans, an Irishman has two characteristics: hard work and drinking. Irish people are often called Paddy, which comes from Patrick's nickname. But actually Paddy is derogatory.

I lived in Ireland for many years. On the surface, the Irish hate the British (Irish fans were very happy when Germany eliminated England two days ago), but in real life, they can't live without Britain (the only neighboring country and the largest trading partner), but they have a sense of inferiority (due to the history of being ruled).