> How hard is getting an Irish visa for a US citizen
> anyway? (I mean a long-stay/work visa.) EU rules?
No, immigration laws haven't been harmonised across the EU, so each member state still makes up its own rules. I was lucky in that I arrived five years ago when all you had to do in Ireland to get a work permit was to find an employer willing to pay a few hundred quid and sign a form saying they'd tried to find an EU citizen for the job. It's next to impossible now unless you are either very highly skilled, or willing to pick mushrooms. There has been report after report from economists across the political spectrum saying that Europe needs more immigrants, and yet all European countries are tightening their immigration laws ... sound familiar?
I did have a bit of a bureaucratic mess when I tried to change jobs (ultimately successfully) and for a while it was looking like my days here would be numbered. It was honestly the most stressful period of my life. I was taking codeine tablets (OTC here) to fall asleep early so I wouldn't have to think about it. And then I felt a bit guilty knowing that the worst that would happen if I were sent home was that I'd miss it here. There are plenty of people here facing similar situations as Doug's friend from Uzbekistan.