Ireland was Europeanised as part of a pragmatic top-down policy of modernisation. The national bargain with regional integration was built on soft Europeanism and rudimentary knowledge about ‘ever closer union’. By the 21st century, the virtuous Irish-EU narrative was weakening. Multiple domestic factors contributed to this. They included political fragmentation, affluence, and constitutional constrictions on the government in referendums. Complacency, distraction, and an energetic new party (Libertas) were some of the immediate causes of the defeat of Lisbon in 2008. The legitimacy of the first Lisbon referendum was undercut in an extended post-mortem. That laid bare the electorate’s lack of knowledge and led to the negotiation of guarantees for some Irish sacred cows in a second referendum. However, the Global Financial Crisis was paramount. It invigorated the conventional narrative that full EU membership was axiomatic to Ireland’s continued economic and fiscal health.