Granted the GP expressed themself vaguely, but there's a large gulf between "absolute" sovereignty, and meddling in internal affairs to such a degree that even what speech is permitted to citizens is out of the hands of the local government, and by extension, the local population.
I wonder if the Irish would have still decided to join the EU, if they had known the EU would then write their speech laws.
Ireland was a miserable place for most of the 20th Century.
It's debatable to what extent the realization of the EU contributed to the Good Friday Agreement, and the Celtic Tiger, but in the minds of most Irish, the correlation is meaningful.
So I will hazard a guess that few Irish regret joining the EU.
When Ireland joined, it was called the "European Economic Community". Presumably they did not expect those "economics" to include speech laws. They might resent being forced to abdicate sovereignty for economic development, by what to all appearances was a bait & switch.
Regardless, even if this is the clear result of a vote, and not some creative interpretation of law, Ireland has 14 MEPs, Germany has 96, and the whole EU has 720. Ireland can be dragged into anything even if their MEPs are in unanimous opposition. And given Irish resistance to changing their laws in this direction, clearly they don't all agree, which is why the EU must threaten them into compliance.
I wonder if the Irish would have still decided to join the EU, if they had known the EU would then write their speech laws.