For a long time Ireland fought to assert itself and guards its sovereignty jealously which had been so difficult to win. Divided into a multitude of clans it progressively fell under English domination in the Middle Ages against which it rebelled on several occasions. Integrated as part of the UK in 1800, it was only in 1921 that it won its badly desired independence, but at a price, since it lost Ulster, which remained British. Membership of the European Union in 1973 led to Ireland’s spectacular economic success, which was very open to foreign investments. Within the Union is it traditionally against tax integration and aims to protect its specific features, including its neutrality.