Accent and fluency in a foreign language

Accent and intonation in achieving fluency are important aspects in learning a foreign language, but it seems to me that very often they are not given the appropriate attention in the foreign language schools. It is true that pronunciation is taught from the very beginning in the elementary courses, but after achieving an upper intermediate level the English language courses tend to be focused on vocabulary, idioms and phrasal verbs. That is at least what happened to me and to all friends and acquaintances when they were studying English as a foreign language in Dublin. I have also checked the most popular books used for teaching English and they seem to show this trend: loads of chapters on specialised vocabulary, some slang, more grammar, but what about the attempt to"going native" in terms of accent and intonation?
It is possible to study grammar, phrasal verbs, idioms and vocabulary without or with little practical help, but the speaking including intonation and accent really needs full support from a native English speaker.
I think that there is a widespread assumption that time and practice will sort things out; the accent will fade away with time, but is it really true?
After over 9.5 years in Dublin I have still an Italian accent, even though I do not use Italian at work and most of my friends are not Italian. It really bothers me, especially because it seems that I do not have any control over this situation.
Any comments will be greatly appreciated (please feel free to comment on my English also!)

Introduction: integration and language proficiency

I would like to discuss with immigrants and Irish people about the immigrants' experience of living and integrating in Ireland. In particular, from the point of view of the immigrants, I am interested in their experience in relation to achieving fluency in English, integrating in the Irish socienty and interacting with native English speakers. In relation to the native English speakers, I would be really interested in their experiences with foreigners and their opinions and feelings about interacting and living with non native English speakers.