The Schengen area (which has common visa rules) is not the same as the EU. Those four countries are part of the Schengen agreement even though they are not in the EU. Conversely, Ireland is not included because although it is an EU member, it is not in the Schengen zone.
Sorry, I re-read the article and the original announcement by the EU travel authority. Neither makes mention of Schengen, which is what got me confused. The ETIAS site does explicitly list the Schengen countries along with the EU one. And not Ireland. They probably vetoed something and got excluded or something :D
The Schengen area (which has common visa rules) is not the same as the EU. Those four countries are part of the Schengen agreement even though they are not in the EU. Conversely, Ireland is not included because although it is an EU member, it is not in the Schengen zone.
Sorry, I re-read the article and the original announcement by the EU travel authority. Neither makes mention of Schengen, which is what got me confused. The ETIAS site does explicitly list the Schengen countries along with the EU one. And not Ireland. They probably vetoed something and got excluded or something :D