THE 33RD COUNTY

ILIR meeting in Queen's New York Tomorrow

2010-04-14T13:54:00.001-07:00

If your family or friends live anywhere near New York please please please tell them about this meeting. Text, phone or email them. Just make sure they know it’s on.

Obama promises immigration reform follows health care deal

2010-03-22T04:21:00.000-07:00

Yes We Can!

What a great boost in the arm having the US Health Reforms go through is. Now we can back to work on Immigration Reform!

An article on the website IrishCentral.com over the weekend really said it all.

Click here for full article or read below.

by Patrick Roberts.

Prospects for immigration reform are suddenly brighter as it looks increasingly likely that a deal on health care will be struck by the Congress and a pledge from President Obama that immigration will be up next.

According to The New York Times the Obama administration has made clear its next two priorities are jobs and immigration reform. In a conversation with wavering Democrats "the president warned that his other priorities — jobs and immigration — would be tougher to achieve if the health bill does not pass." The Times reports.

Obama is quoted saying saying, "If we fail at this it’s going to be harder for us to pull the line on this other stuff. It is going to weaken our presidency.”

But earlier fears, fears that the health bill might be stalled, now seem to be fading and Speaker Nancy Pelosi has clearly become far more confident that she has the 216 votes in the House to pass the legislation.

If that is the case then the president has given his word to the Hispanic caucus that he will make immigration a definite focus. He made it clear at a St.Patrick's party at the White House that he was ready to focus on immigration reform.

Sunday's rally in Washington for immigration reform just as the health care bill is being debated will also focus attention on the issue.

Obama would also be greatly strengthened by a health care victory which will inevitably strengthen his hand on immigration too.
" President Obama will prove he can get health care through" predicted Ciaran Staunton president of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform. "He is the first president since Roosevelt who has succeeded if he does. Immigration reform can be got through this Congress as well."

There are an estimated 50,000 undocumented Irish citizens in America with more coming as the Irish economy flounders.

Irish American Leaders Push Forward for Immigration Bill

2010-01-14T08:42:00.000-08:00

Happily it seems our cause is starting the year on a positive note.

New York-based, Irish Central recently publish an article explaining that the White House had sent out invitations to Irish American Community leaders nationwide to attend a special briefing. The briefing on “comprehensive immigration reform” will take place tomorrow.

To read the full article click here

However here are a couple of uplifting and interesting quotes from the article -

“The administrations objective is to secure Irish political strength to help the forthcoming immigration reform bill through Congress when President Obama is ready to submit it, which sources say will be shortly.”

Stella O’Leary, president of Irish American Democrats was quoted saying “My guess is if President Obama brings in the bill in the spring it will be passed before the November elections. With the help of the Irish, that is!”

Is féidir linn!

Hopeful Vigilant and Prepared

2010-01-04T07:48:00.000-08:00

I just received the ILIR quarterly update which I thought I would share with you.

ILIR’s message is most certainly a positive one. Their work is continuing and so must ours. Happy New Year to all our members and let us look to immigration reform in 2010.

-----

"Welcome to the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform's last quarter report for 2009.

The question on all our minds is what are the chances of Comprehensive Immigration Reform passing in 2010? The best answer we can give is that we are hopeful and remain vigilant, concerned and prepared.

With Healthcare Reform proposals having passed in the House and Senate and heading for likely resolution, we are a step closer in the queue to having Senator Schumer's CIR proposals introduced in Committee and that's the starting point. It will need bipartisan support in the Senate and House to move forward.

And for that to happen, CIR will need willingness to compromise on behalf of the various interest groups. That's where real courage comes in: acceptance of the greater good rather than one's own view of perfection.

You will see from the articles below, ILIR has been very busy these last three months bringing the Irish dimension to the immigration reform debate to various key stakeholders in US politics.

We have received assurances from every one of them of their support for comprehensive reform for the undocumented and the inclusion of an Irish E-3 visa to provide for future migrants. Future meetings are in the works with Senators and Congress members in Montana, Maine, Arizona and Louisiana.

Many thanks to our friends in the Ancient Order of Hibernians for their support and help in these meetings.

In the meantime, local Irish groups have a crucial role to play in positively influencing the build-up to immigration reform. We have included a list of suggestions, detailed below.

In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns, please do let me know. My email is bart@irishlobbyusa.org

Is Féidir linn!

Happy New Year to you all!

Bart Murphy
Chairman, ILIR "

----

Irish Central – 11th Dec 2009
Senator Robert Menendez pledges support to ILIR

Irish Emigrant – 9th Nov 2009
Congressman Delahunt Pledges Leadership on ILIR Reform Proposals

Irish Echo – 11th Nov 2009
The new Donnelly?
AND
Staff Writer Article

Belfast Telegraph – 12th Oct 2009
Better late than never for Hillary Clinton's Irish love-in

What you can do to help....

As we await the introduction of an immigration reform bill for us to work with, there is work to be done on the local level to ensure that we have support going forward.

In 2006 and 2007, the campaign for comprehensive immigration reform was fought on the national stage but was lost on the local stage. When it came to the crux, Senators followed the wishes of their constituents and the bill was defeated.

Supporters of immigration reform for the Irish undocumented will never be able to out-phone or out-fax the opposition - our numbers are too small while theirs are in the 10's of millions. What we can do is broaden our field of support within the larger Irish American communities throughout the US.

Here is how you can help:

Be realistic about what's happening and what ILIR and the Irish government can do. Playing the blame game is a waste of time.

Turn your Congressman into a leading advocate. Convince him/her that he/she needs to represent the 10,000+ Irish living in his/her community and support Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

Talk to your local diocese. Irish and Irish American priests should be giving sermons from the altar on Sunday. It is a moral issue to support immigration reform - it's the American way, the Christian way, the Catholic way.

Create a campaign to work on your city politicians, council members, Mayors, trade union leaders - any Irish American in a position of power. You need to demand that these people speak truth to power and not just pay lip service.

Get your elected officials on message - "I represent an Irish community of upwards of 0,000. I support Comprehensive Immigration Reform and you should too."

Stop History Repeating Itself

2009-11-07T04:13:00.000-08:00

Any conversation I have with my peers these days always seems to revert to what we will be doing this time next year. Unfortunately 20 percent of us are currently unemployed, one third of us are considering immigration and over 60 percent of us fear that we may lose our jobs within the next few months.

Fourteen years ago, I am certain, my sister and her friends had the same conversations. She’s been in Manhattan for 14 years and could not be happier. My sister’s situation, and now the tough decisions that my generation has to face, are the very reason the immigration in the US must be reformed.

Over the last year the Irish have been arriving to the US in their droves. They are arriving looking for work, looking to make a life for themselves in the US where many generations of Irish before have been so successful. The fact remains that through history the Irish have travelled to the US and this is not going to change.

Though the unemployment figure in Ireland, for today, seems to show a tiny improvement, the fact still remains that three out of 10 young males are unemployed in Ireland. In total the figures show that over 12 percent or over 422,500 people have signed on the dole this month. So far this year 67,000 people in Ireland have been given redundancy packages in Ireland and more will inevitably come before the Christmas holidays.

This is the ‘Brain Drain’ all over again. An article in the Irish Times said it all this week as those who are planning to leave and have left Ireland told their stories The article’s depressing headline read “Ireland is a disaster….leave now and enjoy your life”.

All of this just illustrates how important it is that we continue to push forward with immigration reform in the US so that there is some kind of bilateral agreement and we are not condemning thousands of young Irish to become undocumented.

Work is certainly being done by our friends the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, who are quietly working away in the US. Last week Ciaran Staunton, President of ILIR, along with ILIR consultant, Bruce Morrison met with Republican leader, Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina and South Carolina Ancient Order of Hibernian board member Jim Lawracy.

On our side of the Atlantic, Minister Michael Martin recently announced that the Irish Government has allocated a grant of €50,000 to the ILIR. He also attended a series of meetings in Washington and met with the ILIR on a recent visit. We need to keep this progression moving both for our friends and families in the US but for the next generation of Irish who will without doubt continue to travel to the US.

Please email or call your local politicians offices, thank them for their work thus far and encourage them to continue working for the Undocumented in the US. Perhaps you could tell your local politician about the member of your family or your friend who you will be missing this Christmas.

Minister to discuss undocumented in Washington

2009-10-14T03:50:00.000-07:00

The Irish Times (http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/1014/breaking17.htm)

Martin to discuss illegal Irish in US

Wed, Oct 14, 2009

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin has this morning begun a four-day visit to the United States.

The Minister’s is in Washington this morning where he is due to deliver a keynote speech to the European Institute entitled “Equipping the EU for global challenges: an Irish view”.

Minister Martin will then travel to Capitol Hill where he will meet senior members of Congress including senators John McCain, Chris Dodd, Paul Kirk, Lindsey Graham, Bob Casey, Jeanne Shaheen and Congressman Richie Neal, chairman of the Friends of Ireland. Minister Martin will brief the senators on the outcome of the Lisbon referendum, the current situation in Northern Ireland, and the recent Global Irish Economic Forum at Farmleigh.

The Minister will also raise the issue of the Irish undocumented in the United States and will be meeting with the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR).

Minister Martin will tomorrow travel to New York for the inaugural meeting of the new Ireland-US Leadership Council. The grouping brings together leaders of the main Irish-American organisations with national reach in the business, community and cultural fields.

On Friday The Minister will address a business breakfast for 60-70 invited guests at Ireland House. Those invited include key clients of the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, and key figures in the New York business world.

During his visit Minister Martin will also meet with the leaders of the main Irish community support centres in the US. He will host a reception at Ireland House in New York for local Irish community organizations. The Minister will also visit a project in Rockland County where the Irish Government has joined with the GAA in funding the development of the local sports grounds.

On Saturday Minister Martin will attend an interfaith service on Staten Island on Saturday 17th to commemorate those Irish famine emigrants who died while quarantined on arrival in New York and he will visit the Mission of our Lady of the Rosary to view their extensive archival records of Irish immigrants.
© 2009 irishtimes.com

New Hope for Undocumented Irish

2009-10-05T08:49:00.000-07:00

New hope for undocumented Irish as USCIS prepares for surge in visa applications
Agency says it needs to be ready to accept 10m applications in just a few weeks

By KENNETH HAYNES

Visa hope: USCIS is quietly preparing for expected upsurge in applications
Undocumented Irish immigrants have been given new reason to hope that immigration reform is on President Obama's agenda.

This follows a report in The New York Times that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency has quietly begun preparing for an expected upsurge in its workload.

Alejandro Mayorkas, the director of USCIS, says it is planning ahead for the possibility of comprehenive immigration reform.

Mayorkas says that President Obama has already told immigration officials that the White House proposal will include a legalization program and “We are under way to prepare for that.”
Recent estimates from the Pew Hispanic Center say there are about 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

The USCIS is concerned that it would not be able to handle the expected flood of applications if a legalization program was approved.

For example, it currently processes some 6 million applications in 12 months and immigration experts believe the agency would need to be prepared to deal with some 10 million in the space of a few weeks.

Meanwhile, two Massachusetts police have pulled out of a program which authorized them to enforce federal immigration laws.

The police departments in Framingham and Barnstable have said the program was too costly and did nothing to help fight crime.

"It doesn’t benefit the Police Department to engage in deportation and immigration enforcement,’’ Framingham’s chief, Steven Carl, said. “We’re done. I told them to come get the computers.’’

Calling Our Friends and Families to ILIR Meetings

2009-04-24T06:42:00.000-07:00

Obama has made a commitment to moving forward with the immigration issue and now it’s time for our friends and family to show their support for the cause and join with the Irish Lobby for Immigration reform once more.

For the past three years townhall meetings have been taking place across the United States to inform our undocumented friends and family on how the issue is progressing and also to let them ask the experts questions and voice their own concerns.

Once again, meetings will be taking place across the United States and we urge you to ask you friends and family to check the ILIR website (www.irishlobbyusa.org) for updates and attend these meetings.

It’s a time to celebrate how far we have come on this issue. As this article shows – “Irish undocumented welcome immigration move”

Yes We Can!

Obama to Push Immigration Bill as One Priority

2009-04-10T04:11:00.000-07:00

The New York Times
April 9, 2009

While acknowledging that the recession makes the political battle more difficult, President Obama plans to begin addressing the country’s immigration system this year, including looking for a path for illegal immigrants to become legal, a senior administration official said on Wednesday.

Mr. Obama will frame the new effort — likely to rouse passions on all sides of the highly divisive issue — as “policy reform that controls immigration and makes it an orderly system,” said the official, Cecilia Muñoz, deputy assistant to the president and director of intergovernmental affairs in the White House.

Mr. Obama plans to speak publicly about the issue in May, administration officials said, and over the summer he will convene working groups, including lawmakers from both parties and a range of immigration groups, to begin discussing possible legislation for as early as this fall.

To read the full article click here.

Rebuilding Bridges with Our US Cousins

2009-03-19T05:17:00.000-07:00

After a successful and positive celebration of St. Patrick’s Day it seems that everyone is singing from the same hymn book for the first time in a very long time.

Here’s just some of the coverage on Toaiseach Cowen’s visit to the White House, to visit his possible cousin President Obama -

RTE
Taoiseach Brian Cowen has begun a three-day visit to the US, which will culminate with a meeting with President Barack Obama to celebrate St Patrick's Day……

…The Taoiseach launched a major review yesterday of Ireland-US relations aimed at strengthening the economic and social ties between the two countries.

It is the first significant review of diplomatic relations with the US since the 1930s.
Given the economic difficulties that both Ireland and the US are experiencing, Mr Cowen believes now is the time to re-energise the critical relationship between the two countries.

The New York Times

In a speech Sunday night at the American Irish Historical Society on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, Prime Minister Brian Cowen of Ireland said he would urge the Obama administration to expand visas for Irish workers and allow them to stay two years here instead of the current one.

And in a move to woo Irish-Americans, Mr. Cowen proposed measures to make it easier for Americans to claim Irish citizenship, reversing a restrictive course the Irish government took in 2005.

“The connections between Ireland and America remain strong,” Mr. Cowen said, “but we cannot take them for granted.”....

.....Mr. Cowen was cheered Sunday, at least in some quarters, for his proposal to ease naturalization by allowing Americans whose nearest Irish ancestor is a great-grandparent to qualify for citizenship, provided that they have spent considerable time studying or working in Ireland. Under current law, the most distant forebear an American could claim and still qualify for Irish citizenship is a grandparent....

The number of Americans with Irish ancestry has been estimated to be as high as 40 million, and millions of those people have no closer blood tie to Ireland than a great-grandparent.
The immigration proposal grew out of a “strategic review” of Irish-American relations Mr. Cowen ordered up last year, the first such review performed by the government since the 1930s, he said.

For Irish professionals looking to find work in the United States, Mr. Cowen, 49, who worked doing demolition in Midtown Manhattan on a summer off from college, said he hoped the American government would enact something like the E-3 visas it has offered to a set number Australians a year since 2005.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam

2009-03-11T03:42:00.001-07:00

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam

Many ILIR supporters will know Samantha Melia who electrified so many meetings in the U.S. with her take-no-prisoners attitude. And those of you who attended the Friends and Family rally in Dublin would have heard Samantha's father make an impassioned plea for his daughter and all the undocumented Irish in the U.S. For those of us who met both Samantha and her father, it was clear that the apple truly never falls far from the tree.

We are saddened to report that Samantha's father, Davey Meade, has passed away in Ireland. We extend our deepest condolences to Sam and her husband Liam and all of the Meade family. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam

Bi-Lateral USA-Ireland Visa Agreement Called For

2009-02-11T00:53:00.000-08:00

The ever increasing dole queues in Ireland inevitably mean that there is a strong liklihood that many more young Irish people will be tempted to try their luck at finding a job across the water in the United States, thereby adding to the many thousands of undocumented Irish who are currently resident in the States.

The Westport born Vice President of the Irish Lobby for Emigration Reform Ciaran Staunton is currently in Ireland , as the organisation strive to find a solution to this long running problem.

Speaking today on Ocean fm, Ciaran Staunton said that now is the time for the Irish Government to push hard for the introduction of a bi lateral visa agreement along the lines of an agreement which the Australian government has in place with the American administration.

------

Is this country destined to repeat its mistake made over the past decades? Are we going to continue to encourage the young Irish to go and seek their fortune abroad, leaving their failing homeland with no structures in place so that they may return?

Will Ireland ever learn!.....Call your local politicians and ask them what they're doing for your friends and family in the US.

The New Start - A New Campaign

2009-01-23T10:12:00.000-08:00

The Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) is gearing up for a new campaign on behalf of legal access for Irish immigrants to the US.

The ILIR will be returning to Washington next month for meetings with members of Congress who hold senior positions in the committees overseeing immigration reform.

Chairman Niall O'Dowd and Vice-Chairman Ciaran Staunton both attended the inauguration of President Barack Obama in Washington and held several meetings with key members of the new administration as well as the powerful Friends of Ireland in Congress.

They reported that there is a new consensus at both the Senate and House level to move forward on immigration reform over the next 12 months.

In addition, ILIR lobbyist Bruce Morrison and Irish American Democrats President Stella O'Leary have met with the Obama administration on the issue.

Immigration is already one of the key issues on the agenda for President Barack Obama and he has underlined that commitment by naming a number of seasoned immigration advocates to senior posts.

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano - who has spoken out in support of comprehensive immigration reform - will be the Secretary of Homeland Security. Her role will include overseeing the various immigration agencies that are part of the Department of Homeland Security.

Meanwhile, Cecilia Muñoz, our former colleague in the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform has been named to a top post in the White House itself. Ms Muñoz - a veteran immigration campaigner - has been named Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for the White House. Ms. Muñoz was most recently vice-president at NCLR (National Council of La Raza), and was a long-time member of the National Immigration Forum's Board of Directors.

In addition, ILIR supporter Senator Hilary Clinton (D-NY) is the new Secretary of State, and Eric Holder, former Deputy Attorney General under President Clinton, will be Attorney General.

Meanwhile, the new Irish Intern Work and Travel Program is now operational. Irish college students or recent graduates can submit their applications now for visas that will allow them to live and work in the US for a year. Information on this program can be found at www.dfa.ie or at www.iicenter.org/services/J1-iwt.htm If you have any questions on the new working holiday visa in the US, please contact Peggy Comfrey, Director of International Programs, on (001)617-542-1900 ext. 14 or pcomfrey@iicenter.org, or Ann Marie Byrne 617-542-7654 ext. 16 or ambyrne@iicenter.org

If you have any other queries, please contact the ILIR directly,

Warm regards
Kelly Fincham
Executive Director,
Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform
718-598-7530

A New Start - Hope

2009-01-19T10:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday "four Irish boys from the north side of Dublin" (U2, in case you hadn't heard) had the honour of welcoming Barak Obama to the stage at Washington. Tomorrow, we can only hope, that tomorrow marks the begining of a new chapter in the history of the United States, the World and the our friends and families, the undocumented in the United States.

At a time when it is becoming ever clearer that our friends and familes cannot hope to come home and support themselves in our country we can only hope that Barak Obama will see the sense in reforming the rules of immigration and allowing our tax paying, hard working friends and family to remain legally in the United States.

What we need to do is make sure that no one forgets who we are and what we want. It’s time to remind your politicians that they need to keep the pressure on and keep communication on this topic with the United States open.

Galway Bay FM news -
Galway MEP Lobbies Barak Obama on Undocumented Irish
Northwest MEP Sean O'Neachtain has written to Barack Obama urging him to legalise the undocumented Irish in America.

Keep it going! YES WE CAN!!!

2008-12-18T11:31:00.000-08:00

Irish illegals issue more urgent than ever - O'Dowd

2008-10-13T11:31:00.000-07:00

(From the Irish Times, October 11, 2008) DEAGLAN DE BREADUN, Political Correspondent

SIGNIFICANT ILLEGAL immigration of Irish people to the US has begun again, making it even more critical that a long-term solution be found to the problem, founder-member of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform Niall O'Dowd said last night.

Speaking in Dún Chaoin, Co Kerry, at the opening of the Blasket Island Foundation seminar on emigration, he said: "The Irish immigrant centres all over the US are reporting a significant surge . . . and the anecdotal evidence in Irish neighbourhoods is backing that up. We are particularly seeing the traditional type of Irish emigrant - construction workers, waitresses - who are the first to experience the effects of the Irish economic downturn.

"We already have tens of thousands of undocumented whom we are seeking to help," he added.
Mr O'Dowd said immigration reform was a divisive issue and had taken a back seat in the US election. "Given the current economic emergency it is hard to see McCain or Obama giving the issue of immigration reform any major priority if elected," he said.

This is just the beginning....

2008-10-11T04:47:00.000-07:00

"Speaking on RTÉ radio last week, Louisburgh native, Ciarán Staunton, who is Deputy Chairperson of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) in America, said Senator McCain had reiterated his interest in resolving the issue of the undocumented in a meeting with the ILIR, at which he said that, if elected, his number one priority during his first year would be to get immigration reform.
“We’ve had great access to Senator McCain,” Mr Staunton said. “Every event we’ve invited him to over the past two years, both in Washington and in the Bronx, he has shown up at. I spent half an hour talking with him about the issue of the undocumented Irish and other Irish-American issues and he didn’t need notes or staff. He gets the issue, which is in contrast to his opponent. We have, as of yet, been unable to get Barack Obama to turn up to any of our events.”
Ciarán Staunton added that the ILIR do not endorse candidates, ‘but as of now there is certainly only one who has shown an interest’."

http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5098&Itemid=38

Irish Government grants Irish immigrant groups $1.5m

2008-09-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has announced grants of more than $1.5m for Irish immigration organisations in the USA.

The grants will go to 16 frontline Irish immigration organisations which provide support and other services to Irish emigrants. The US$1,518,500 (€1,030,500) announced today brings to US$3,163,500 the total amout granted this year to Irish immigration and community organisations in the US.

Speaking after a meeting with the community organisations in New York, the Minister said:
"The Irish immigration organisations in the US provide an invaluable service to the Irish communities there and I am delighted that we are in position once again this year to make a significant financial contribution to enable them to continue that work."

"Irish emigrant communities have over the years contributed in different ways to the economic well-being of this country. It is important now that we continue to provide financial support to organisations that work with those Irish communities in the US and elsewhere."

"The allocations that I am announcing today are to organisations that are to the forefront in providing essential frontline services to Irish communities across the US, particularly to the elderly and those in need. They also work with the undocumented Irish, whose status remains an issue of the highest priority for the Government and which I have raised with key US
legislators in the course of my visit.”

- www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/0928/breaking21.htm

US to issue 20,000 one-year work visas

2008-09-21T06:14:00.000-07:00

This a great step forward toward what we've all been hoping will happen. The doors have been opened and discussions are underway. Finally the unique Irish American relationship is being recognised and the visa issue as a whole is being discussed.

It seems that our new Toaiseach is holding true to his word of holding "visas and immigration' as priorities during his time in office.

To read the recent article in the Irish Times : http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2008/0919/1221773888183.html

Irish Times weighs in on US election

2008-09-16T13:50:00.002-07:00

Would an Obama presidency be best for Ireland?
Kate Fitzgerald argues 'yes', Obama would benefit Ireland by reviving the economy, remaining engaged with Northern Ireland and favouring diplomacy over aggression, while Grant Lally says 'no', Barack Obama's suggestion that there might be no need for a US special envoy to Northern Ireland shows his naivety and lack of experience

Familes on move from Ireland

2008-09-16T13:50:00.001-07:00

The Irish Independent has been following the continuing brain drain from Ireland. A story this week shows that the rate of emigration is at its highest for 20 years. The story does not say whether some of the outflow includes immigrant workers to Ireland but still, the numbers do show that Irish people are on the move again. In particular, Irish construction workers are being wooed in Canada and Australia.

Obama Reaches Out To Irish America

2008-09-16T13:45:00.000-07:00

At last! Someone in Obama's campaign (or maybe it was the senator himself?) has reached out to the Irish American community. The Irish Voice, says that Obama has picked an "A Team" of Irish American experts to do just that.

Obama had foolishly left that role to Ms Trina Vargo who heads up the US-Ireland Alliance. That was a ridiculously bad move for Obama given that one of Vargo's first efforts included a statement suggesting that an Obama administration would abolish the post of US special envoy to the North of Ireland.The statement caused uproar in the Irish American community which worked so hard to secure the posting, a role which has helped maintain the fragile peace in the North. It also pried open a doorway for Senator John McCain to take advantage of the Irish American vote.

Now, the "A Team" includes such stalwart Irish Americans as Senators George Mitchell (retired, Maine), Chris Dodd (Connecticut), Edward Kennedy (Massachusetts) and Pat Leahy (Vermont), Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland and Congressmen Joe Crowley (New York) and Richard Neal (Massachusetts).Where does this all leave Ms Vargo?

We fervently hope she is removed from any position where she has the power to influence Irish American policy. Those of us who toil in the world of immigration reform are well aware of Ms Vargo's contempt for the Irish - despite the fact that her work is funded by the Irish taxpayer

A Fresh Approach and a Thumbs up for Taoiseach Cowen

2008-07-23T15:40:00.000-07:00

The Irish Echo in New York published an article today outlining Toaiseach Cowen's visit and on the ILIR's response to their meetings with him. Things are most certainly looking positive. On behalf of you all I'd like to thank Mr Cowen for his forward thinking and dedication.

Here are just a couple of quotes from the article:

"Cowen pledged to make the visa and immigration issue a priority for his government. Speaking at the reception in the lobby of the Park Avenue building that houses the consulate, Cowen said that "this issue is a priority for me in the months and years ahead."

"...meeting prompted what an ILIR statement described as a "a hearty
thumbs-up" for the new taoiseach. ILIR vice-chairman, Ciaran Staunton, said Cowen had ushered in a new era in the Irish American relationship."

""We have a responsibility to continue to lobby and do so as effectively as we possibly can," he said. And he said the Irish government was prepared to look at a "reciprocal" visa arrangement with the U.S. "We can perhaps be more proactive on our side in making sure that more Americans, who want to come and visit and work in Ireland, get the chance to do so as well."

Read the full article here:
http://www.irishecho.com/search/searchstory.cfm?id=18777&issueid=586

Taoiseach in New York

2008-07-18T15:42:00.000-07:00

I'm back (that is Kate). Sorry for my short absence but I will be back giving you updates on what's going on with the ILIR and the campaign to find a resolution for our friends and families over in the States.

Here's a run down on what's been going on and what has been said in the last 48 hours -

Irish Taoiseach Brian Cowen met with the ILIR this week in New York and announced his support for our campaign.

He spoke out on the plight of the undocumented Irish saying; "It's a priority for our administration to try and sort this out." Mr Cowen is determined that his administration will succeed where successive administrations have failed - in regularizing and improving immigration ties between Ireland and America.

This is welcome good news for the ILIR campaign and we have copied and pasted some of the week's reports.

Later, we will also send out an mp3 from Newstalk Radio in Ireland which featured a hard-hittng interview with ILIR vice-chairman Ciaran Staunton.

Taoiseach signals new campaign on illegalsIrish Times, Ireland - 15 hours agoTHE TAOISEACH, Brian Cowen, yesterday signalled that the Government would be launching a new drive to resolve the issue of the undocumented Irish in the US. ...

Government to consider deal for undocumentedRTE.ie, Ireland - 19 hours agoThe Government is considering a special deal that would see Ireland easing restrictions on US immigrants in return for concessions on the undocumented Irish ...

Cowen 'more genuine in commitment to illegal Irish'Irish Independent, Ireland - 9 hours agoThe Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform in the US says it believes Brian Cowen is more genuine in his commitment to helping illegal Irish immigrants than his ...

Cowen in visa bid to resolve emigrant plightIrish Independent, Ireland - 12 hours agoBy Fionnan Sheahan in New York TAOISEACH Brian Cowen wants to grant more visas to Americans to come to Ireland as a way to resolve the plight of illegal ...

Joe Duffy hit by wingnut brigade

2008-06-06T08:30:00.001-07:00

My blood is boiling after listening to the bunch of self-righteous horrors who called in to the Joe Duffy show this week. Not one of the self-satisfied callers - many of whom had been in the US themselves - had any sympathy for a man called Gareth who was deported from the US after 20 years.

They also seemed to have very little knowledge of the current visa situation - one woman was labouring under the illusion that there was an amnesty (yes, Philomena, there was, but it happened in the early 1980s long before the new Irish began going to the US.)

Some other man said that being an undocumented immigrant was like breaking into a person's house. Another man actually said he would advocate the death penalty if that's what the US wanted.

Thankfully, Celine Kennelly, the Executive Director of the Irish Immigration Pastoral Center, was at home for her sister's wedding and called in. If not for Celine, the whole show would have been taken over by those vicious people who called in.

Celine also nailed the myths that the undocumented Irish could have sorted themselves out by now. As Celine pointed out there is no way for people to do that. Celine also added that they are seeing more and more people coming through the centres - higher numbers than have been seen in recent years.

Click here to hear the show

More bad news on jobs front in Ireland

2008-06-04T07:24:00.000-07:00

Funny; I had just posted yesterday when someone sent me a link to this story.
No surprise to some of us but it seems as if the Independent has only just learned that there's a lot of us struggling to stay afloat these days.
The story says that 25 per cent of the current jobs are expected to be lost in construction.
And where do you think people are going to go? London's not the big magnet people think it is because the cost of living is fierce expensive. I know people spending 500 sterling A WEEK for accommodation there. Compare that with 500 dollars A MONTH for a flat in the Bronx and the numbers soon start to add up.
And those numbers mean an increase in undocumented Irish in the US.
Making a bad problem worse.

Queuing for a Living

2008-06-03T05:55:00.000-07:00

I left school in 1982 so I know what a recession looks like - Wonder if this picture is a clue on what's happening here again? My brother-in-law was doing his plumbing apprenticeship in FAS in Louth and Monaghan until three months ago when he got laid off. He's talking about joining HIS brother in New York. His brother's been in NYC since 1996 and he can get him work in construction. My brother-in-law's said he'd be making up his mind soon. He's out of work now for 14 weeks. Can't get anything here.

Sarah Joins the 33rd County

2008-06-03T05:52:00.000-07:00

Hi there - I am a new addition to the blogging family here on The 33rd County. My name's Sarah and I live in Co Westmeath. I have two brothers and two sisters in New York. Two of them got Morrisons and the other two didn't so you can imagine how this affects our family. I got involved in the blog because I kept posting comments - Kate's asked me to give it a go, so you'll know all my posts because they'll be signed Sarah.

A Major Boost for Our Friends and Family

2008-05-23T13:12:00.000-07:00

I can happily report that I just received some great news from the ILIR. Following the changing of the guard in the Irish government Taoiseach Cowen has started his new career on an excellent note.

Unfortunately this week there was also bad news about Senator Edward Kennedy's health. The Friends and Family of the Undocumented send him our best and wish him a speedy recovery.

-----

Taoiseach Brian Cowen Meets ILIR Chairman Niall O'Dowd: The Irish Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, met with the Chairman of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, Niall O'Dowd, this week in Dublin for an hour-long meeting on the plight of the undocumented Irish in the US.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr O'Dowd described it as "very positive," and said it was clear that Mr Cowen is totally committed to helping the undocumented Irish. Mr Cowen said he will be visiting the US soon and intends to meet with the ILIR and people from the community.

He told Mr O'Dowd that he wants to hear first-hand from those most affected by the situation.Mr Cowen noted that he had worked in the US as a student and understood the impact on the Irish American community. We will keep you posted on any new developments in relation to the Taoiseach's visit to the US.

Prayers for Senator Edward Kennedy: Senator Edward Kennedy, 76, who was diagnosed with brain cancer on Tuesday, is in our thoughts this week. His commitment to securing comprehensive immigration reform has made him a hero in our community. Senator Kennedy is a real giant of the Senate. He put immigration reform on the map and has worked tirelessly to try and ensure that undocumented immigrants are not exploited and find a fair way to ensure they can stay here legally.

Without his work this issue would not even be on the radar. He attended three of our ILIR rallies and his impassioned words in defense of the undocumented will stay with us for a long time. He's been an enormous friend to undocumented Irish as well as every single Irish person who's ever set foot in the United States.

We wish him the best in his battle against his illness and we are certain that if anyone can recover from this illness he can.

Wishing you a peaceful Memorial Day Weekend,
warm regards,
Kelly Fincham, Executive Director, ILIR

Outgoing Taoiseach Takes Another Swing at ILIR

2008-04-16T16:22:00.000-07:00

You would think, well I would anyway, that the outgoing Taoiseach would have more important things to do than take another swing at the ILIR. But that's what happened in New York again this week with an Op-Ed penned by Bertie Ahern appearing in both the Irish Echo and the Irish Voice. The ILIR rallied to get in a response which you can read here

However, the real loser in all this are the people like my sister and her husband who are stranded in a no-man's land. They are at their wits' end and there is no help in sight. It beggars belief that the outgoing Taoiseach can not find something more constructive to do than try and smear the people who have been doing the most to find a solution.

Time to go to San Francisco?

2008-04-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

A series of new television and radio commercials, billboards and bus shelter signs will soon go up around San Francisco advertising the fact that the city promises safe access to city services for the undocumented and a don't-ask-don't-tell policy when it comes residency status.

"We are standing up to say to all of our residents: We don't care what your status is," Mayor Gavin Newsom said. "We care that you, as a human being, are a resident of our city and we want you to participate in the life of our city."

The campaign precedes the city's plan in August to begin issuing municipal identification cards to city residents - regardless of whether they are in the country legally. Officials said they not only want immigrants to know about San Francisco's sanctuary city policy, they want city workers, business owners and others to know the same.

"We're taking a big bite of the reality sandwich in admitting that there are people who live here who may or may not have citizen status," said Supervisor Tom Ammiano, who helped spearhead the ad campaign and who represents the city's heavily Latino Mission District.

Police Chief Heather Fong said officers will report undocumented immigrants if they have a felony arrest, but otherwise, "we do not work on enforcing immigration laws."

Read the full story here. Picture shows Mayor Newsom with Fr Brendan McBride from the Irish Immigration Pastoral Center at an ILIR event in San Francisco.

Coast to Coast Criticism of Bertie Comments in US

2008-03-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has sparked a storm of coast-to-coast criticism in the US after his comments last week over the undocumented Irish.

From San Francisco to Boston and New York, the main Irish newspapers ran the story as their page one lead on Wednesday, March 26.

The Irish Herald in San Francisco pulled no punches; "Taoiseach Bertie Ahern Turns His Back on Reform for the Undocumented Irish."

The Irish Echo Said "Row Deepens, ILIR seeks talks after Ahern's Remarks." and The Irish Voice led with "SOS for Bertie Meeting" and an editorial by Niall O'Dowd which said; "Why Neither Side Wins"

All three newspapers featured an Op Ed by California lawyer Bart Murphy which blasted the Government's attitude. The Herald actually ran the Op-Ed on the front page. In it, Mr Murphy said;

"with all the subtlety of a head-butt, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern turned his government's back on supporting recent proposals put forward by the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform."

Irish American organizations have united in opposition to the Taoiseach's comments.

The uproar over the Taoiseach's comments is sure to overshadow his pending address to Congress on April 30.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern Turns His Back on Reform for the Undocumented Irish

2008-03-27T15:52:00.000-07:00

By Bart Murphy

“THE concept of an amnesty, wiping the sheet clean, is just not on.”
“They are talking from a position of sitting in the bar, and talking nonsense.”

With these comments made while standing on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on St. Patrick’s afternoon, and with all the subtlety of a head-butt, Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern turned his government’s back on supporting recent proposals put forward by the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) for a U.S.-Ireland bilateral visa program.

This proposal would deal with the crisis of the undocumented Irish and finally provide a permanent and sensible pathway to Irish-U.S. migration going forward.

No less than two Aherns, Bertie the taoiseach and Dermot, the minister for foreign affairs, had previously made public and private commitments to support the proposal and push for its implementation in Washington.

However, it had become increasingly clear over the last six months that while a significant number of influential U.S. elected leaders were interested in pursuing discussions, for unexplained reasons our own team were not turning up for the match. Excuses were made, but no plausible rationale offered.

Labeling committed Irish immigrant advocates as misguided and uninformed bar-stool dreamers and the bilateral visa proposal an “amnesty,” Ahern set off a flurry of criticism over the Irish government’s refusal to push for a long-term and viable solution to the issue.

Reports and opinion pieces in the Irish and Irish American media bear headlines such as “A Kick in The teeth for the Irish in America,” “Ahern in Bar-Room Row Over U.S. Illegals”, “Pack Your Bags” and “The St. Patrick’s Day Insult.”

Talk about washing your linens in public! Bertie, what were you and your senior advisors thinking?

We may never know the answer, and it leaves many more unanswered questions regarding the Irish government’s real attitude and commitment to the future of its tens of thousands of undocumented men, women and children in the U.S.

It would be too easy to simply hurl back insults to the taoiseach and his senior advisers from the Department of Foreign Affairs for this grossly unwarranted and misleading criticism.

And perhaps that’s what Ahern’s comments were designed to do -– to shift the debate away from working on a solution, to trivialize the advocates, to personalize the debate.

For make no mistake about it, in all their uncouthness and insensitivity, Ahern’s comments were carefully planned and choreographed to cause damage. Having navigated the choppy waters of the Northern Ireland peace process for the last 20 years, these guys know how to spin an issue and shift a debate better than most.

By tarring the proposed bilateral visa solution as an “amnesty,” Ahern and his advisers want to knock it on its head. They know well that “amnesty” is the atomic bomb of U.S. immigration politics.

It is the language of Tancredo and Dobbs. It plays to people’s fears and the lowest common denominator in the immigration reform debate.

And it’s unfair and untrue. We sadly know too well the U.S. is not ready for broad, sweeping, comprehensive immigration reform.

The only significant U.S. immigration reform in the last 45 years has come about on a country by country and regional basis — El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Russia, Israel and South East Asia. Australia, Chile and Singapore now have long-term bilateral visa systems put in place with the U.S., each one a little bit different and tailored to country specific needs.

Given Ireland’s much vaunted relationship with the U.S. on a number of fronts, many experienced hands, including former Congressman Bruce Morrison, author of the Morrison visa program which granted 48,000 green cards to the Irish in the 1990s, feel that Ireland would be pushing “an open door” in seeking such an arrangement. It might not be perfect, it might need some finessing, but isn’t that what Bertie does best?

We’ve long heard the pious platitudes and sound-bytes of Ireland “cherishing our diaspora.” But those of us with memories longer than an Irish election cycle also recall the tepid reception and lack of interest previous Irish governments had in the Morrison and Donnelly proposals 20 years ago.

Without the push of the Irish Immigration Reform Movement and its allies, there are many now successful Irish men and women in America who would have been otherwise left twisting in the wind. Oh, how history repeats itself!

Let’s not confuse the issue. To give credit where its due, the Irish government has been proactive and very generous in recent years in funding U.S.-based Irish immigrant social service agencies.

But that generosity does not fix the long term political and social problems facing our undocumented in the U.S. It is at best, treating some of the symptoms and not the core illness.

Without bold, ambitious commitment and action on the part of the Irish government, the undocumented issue will keep getting bigger and bigger. Thirty-thousand to 50,000 people with roots in their local communities across the country, many now with U.S. born, school going children, are not going back to Ireland in the near or long term. And to suggest otherwise is a political cop-out.

A more famous and perhaps wiser and wilier Irish politician, Edmund Burke, once said that “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

Sorry, Bertie. I’m with Burke on this one.

(Bart Murphy serves on the board of directors of the San Francisco Irish Immigration and Pastoral Center, is past president and a member of the board of the National Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers and serves on the advisory board of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform.)

A kick in the teeth for Irish in America

2008-03-21T07:55:00.000-07:00

(Letters from the Irish Independent. People DO care!!!)

I find it hard to believe that the Taoiseach's remarks in Washington on the issue of illegal Irish immigrants in the US were deliberately contrived to damage their prospects of achieving legal status.

So I can only conclude that his comments on a potential amnesty were a display of his own monumental ignorance of the aims of the immigration reform lobby.

They have never sought an amnesty for Irish illegal immigrants.

They are aware that by doing so, they would likely alienate their key supporters in the US Congress.

The only people who have talked up the prospects of an amnesty have been the opponents of relevant immigration reform.

These include Democratic Party candidate Senator Barack Obama and his backers in the large US labour unions.

They deliberately raised it as a tactic to scare away the moderate support which the McCain/Kennedy plan had in Congress.

By raising this non-issue once more, the Taoiseach has given grist to the mill of the opponents of immigration reform.

Simultaneously he has delivered a kick in the teeth to the Irish in America, on St Patrick's Day, of all days.

BARRY WALSH

CLONTARF , DUBLIN 3

> I wish to make some observations about the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's comments (Irish Independent, March 18) on illegal Irish in America.

I spent a summer in Boston some years back, and I did not know or hear of any unemployed, illegal Irish person.

You may say that they have to work because they will not receive any benefits from the US government.

However, it was my experience that the kind of people who made their way to the United States only seem to want to work hard.

And they are doing jobs most Americans would prefer not to do.

The United States is more than happy to turn a blind eye to the Irish who do the hard labour illegally and contribute to an economy that the Irish have helped build over generations.

Maybe instead rolling over for the Americans, the Taoiseach could bring up the tiny issue of illegal rendition flights landing on Irish soil at Shannon Airport.

KEVIN THOMAS

BALDOYLE, DUBLIN 13

Stop acting the Clown Senator and address the undocumented

2008-03-21T06:24:00.001-07:00

Westmeath Fianna Fail Senator Donie Cassidy has been told to stop acting the clown and address the issue 'illegal' Irish people in America.

The remarks were made to the Leader of the Seanad by Fine Gael Senator Alan Kelly.

Senator Cassidy had accused the Fine Gael/Labour government of 1983 to 1987 of running tens of thousands of Irish people out of the country.

Alan Kelly said the current government was all over the place and the plight of illegal Irish people in Boston was scary.

Senator Cassidy said that everyone in the Seanad wanted to see the same result in relation to the undocumented Irish.

The ILIR is NOT talking nonsense in bars.....

2008-03-19T16:30:00.001-07:00

A message from the ILIR: The ILIR is requesting an urgent meeting with An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to discuss the comments made by Mr Ahern on St Patrick's Day.

We have listed several articles below which detail the statements by the Taoiseach, and our response.

We would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that we are not giving up on the undocumented Irish in the US. We will continue to battle on their behalf. We will not give up until this battle is over.

Pack your bags
Ahern advises undocumented to consider return trip (Irish Echo)

ILIR Says Ahern Is 'Misinformed'
THE Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) has expressed deep disappointment in Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern's comments in Washington, D.C. on St. Patrick's Day. (Irish Voice)

Time To Unite
Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern threw the cat among the pigeons this week when he accused Irish immigration advocates of seeking an unrealistic "amnesty" for the undocumented. (Irish Voice)

ILIR pushes Ahern to pursue viable visa plan
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was urged last night to personally ask US President George Bush to accept a deal to grant visas to 10,000 illegal Irish emigrants.

Audio Clips

Ciaran Staunton suggests a way forward for Mr Ahern RTE 1 o'clock news
"We never sought an amnesty,' Niall O'Dowd on Newstalk Right Hook
"Talking Nonsense in Bars," Bertie Ahern's comments on RTE Morning Ireland
Niall O'Dowd says the Taoiseach's comments reveal his ignorance of the US immigration debate RTE Morning Ireland

Please feel free to comment on the official ILIR blog at or The 33rd County which is run by the Friends and Family in Ireland.

The St. Patrick's Day Insult and the Argentinian Visas

2008-03-19T14:12:00.000-07:00

Last night I sent a press release out giving our reaction to what Mr Aherne said in Washington on our nations feast day. This is the gist of what I said:

The Families and Friends of the undocumented Irish in the US are extremely upset over what they called the"St Patrick's Day insult" from the Taoiseach.

Speaking in Washington yesterday, Mr Ahern said the undocumented Irish were sitting in bars in the US talking nonsense about a possible visa deal.

"Mr Ahern has stereotyped my sister, her husband, and all the other undocumented Irish in the US," said Kate Hickey, the head of the Families and Friends support group in Ireland.

"My sister was really depending on the Irish Government to help. She has been in the US for 12 years now and we were pinning our hopes on the Irish Government."

"The comments yesterday seem to suggest that the Taoiseach is walking away from us."

-------------

However, today it was reported that the day after these upsetting words came from our Taoiseach he announced that the government has organised a bilateral agreement for holiday visas with the Argentinian Government. (www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/ireland/article3533247.ece )

Unfortunately Mr Aherne seems to think that a resolution is impossible, though apparently not in Argentina. He also sees the situation in the US as lost while those who have been constantly involved in the issue of visas and the undocumented, such as Bruce Morrison seem positive and are willing to work towards a resolution.

ILIR at the White House

2008-03-03T10:37:00.001-08:00

The Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform ramped up their campaign in the US on Friday with a meeting in the White House with Ed Gillespie, the top advisor to President George W Bush.

Pictured left to right are; ILIR Executive Director Kelly Fincham, Vice-Chairman Ciaran Staunton, White House Counsellor Mr Gillespie, Chairman Niall O'Dowd, and ILIR Consultant Bruce Morrison.

We met Mr Gillespie to discuss a limited immigration reform package which could include an Irish element among its provisions. Chairman Niall O'Dowd said the meeting, which was set up by senior figures in the Republican Party in the US, was one of the most positive developments in recent times.

"We had a very constructive meeting at the White House with the President's top adviser, Ed Gillespie," he said.

"We had a wide-ranging discussion on Irish immigration and we made a concrete proposal to the White House which they have agreed to consider.

"Mr Gillespie was extremely knowledgeable on the issue and we look forward to future meetings with the White House," he said.

Mr Gillespie is the highest-ranking assistant to President Bush and is believed to be the "Mr Fixit" at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Mr Gillespie, whose father emigrated from Donegal, began his career on Capitol Hill as a parking attendant at the Senate car park.

In 2006, Mr Gillespie penned a Wall Street Journal editorial in support of a comprehensive immigration reform package in which he said: "The Republican Party cannot become an anti-immigration party."

Mr Gillespie, who assumed some of former Karl Rove's job in the White House, has been widely praised for his role in orchestrating a rapid-response PR unit dedicated to helping sell the "surge" in the Iraq war in the US.

ILIR at the White House for Immigration Meetings

2008-02-29T09:41:00.001-08:00

The Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform ramped up their campaign in the US on Friday with a meeting in the White House with Ed Gillespie, the top advisor to President George W Bush.

ILIR Chairman Niall O'Dowd, Vice-Chairman Ciaran Staunton, Executive Director, Kelly Fincham and Immigration Consultant Bruce Morrison met Mr Gillespie to discuss a limited immigration reform package which could include an Irish element among its provisions.

Chairman Niall O’Dowd said the meeting, which was set up by senior figures in the Republican Party US, was one of the most positive developments in recent times.

Hear Niall O'Dowd on RTE's News at One

New stories on Irish in the US

2008-02-22T03:43:00.000-08:00

We received an email from the ILIR today which we are posting in full below;

The ILIR will be holding a series of town halls to address concerns in the community about immigration reform in the coming weeks. We will be emailing times + venues in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, we have gathered a selection of recent articles and radio shows here which have appeared in different sites this week. The articles are listed below with the relevant links. Please feel free to comment on the official ILIR blog at or The 33rd County which is run by the Friends and Family in Ireland.

An Open Letter to Bertie (Niall O'Dowd) The Irish Star, Feb 22, 2008
Excerpt: I was disappointed that you never mentioned the Irish undocumented issue in your remarks though...it is important for you to know that thousands of Irish undocumented emigrants in America will be watching and listening too. You see you are their last real hope of achieving legal status in the United States.

Irish Government Slammed after Hands are Tied Claim over Undocumented
The Irish government has been slammed over its inaction on the undocumented issue. Activists have compared comments by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to those of the Mexican President who this week pledged to up his commitment to Mexican immigrants in the US.

Deportation Fear Cost Man His Life
The father of a County Derry man who died in the US said he believes his son delayed seeking medical treatment because he feared being deported.

ILIR on Irish Radio Show
Interview with ILIR vice-chairman Ciaran Staunton and an undocumented Irish man on the "Right Hook" radio show in Ireland

And the work goes on....

2008-02-22T03:28:00.000-08:00

I just recieved this round up for February from the ILIR. It makes for good reading and it just shows that on both sides of the Atlantic the fight is continuing. All we're lacking is the support of our government.

ILIR eNewsletter:

The ILIR will be holding a series of town halls to address concerns in the community about discussions with the Irish Government and also the wider effort for immigration reform. We will be emailing times + venues in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, we have gathered a selection of recent articles and radio shows here which have appeared in different sites this week. The articles are listed below with the relevant links. Please feel free to comment on the official ILIR blog at or The 33rd County which is run by the Friends and Family in Ireland.

An Open Letter to Bertie (Niall O'Dowd) The Irish Star, Feb 22, 2008Excerpt: I was disappointed that you never mentioned the Irish undocumented issue in your remarks though...it is important for you to know that thousands of Irish undocumented emigrants in America will be watching and listening too. You see you are their last real hope of achieving legal status in the United States.

Irish Government Slammed after Hands are Tied Claim over UndocumentedThe Irish government has been slammed over its inaction on the undocumented issue. Activists have compared comments by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to those of the Mexican President who this week pledged to up his commitment to Mexican immigrants in the US.

Deportation Fear Cost Man His LifeThe father of a County Derry man who died in the US said he believes he delayed medical treatment because he feared being deported.

ILIR on Irish Radio Show

Irish American Anger as Bertie Backs Off On Undocumented Irish

2008-02-14T09:50:00.000-08:00

Irish Americans have reacted with anger to the latest statement from Taoiseach Bertie Ahern on the undocumented Irish.

This week the Taosieach said there was no hope of any deal on the Irish undocomented in the US and his comments sparked fury among the Irish in the US, and their families back home.

ILIR vice-chairman Ciaran Staunton, who succesfully tackled Mitt Romney on US television over his anti-immigrant campaign, said he was extremely disappointed in the Irish Government.

"Why didn't they look for a bilateral visa deal that would facilitate Irish and U.S. citizens alike," he said. "The Irish government has closed the door on a bilateral. They have clearly walked away from the undocumented," Staunton said.

His words were echoed by undocumented Irish immigrants in New York.

Deirdre Foy, who has been living in the U.S. for 11 years, expressed her upset with Ahern's attitude towards her situation. "I'm very disappointed with his comments. Both he and (Foreign Minister) Dermot Ahern have promised our community that every effort was being made by the Irish government to rectify the Irish undocumented situation in the U.S.," she said.

Asking if Ahern had forgotten the cross-party agreement that was entered into last fall in which all Irish political parties pledged to do their utmost for the undocumented, Ms Foy said, "Those of us here in the U.S. don't have the same short term memory like they do and neither do our friends and family in Ireland. His comments have not been taken lightly on either side of the Atlantic."

Samantha Melia, who has been living in New York for eight years with her husband Liam, was also upset with Ahern's comments."He is an absolute disgrace — I just don't understand the whole thing. There are other countries that negotiate deals, such as Australia or Chile. Why can't we?" she said.

Ms Melia feels the Irish government has left down its Irish citizens. "Bertie will go down in history for the man who turned away an opportunity that was created by the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) to get status for the undocumented Irish," she said. "We give the United States Shannon so why can't we get 10,000 visas for our citizens in return?" she said.

Meanwhile, the executive director of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, Kelly Fincham, said she was surprised to hear of the Taoiseach's comments given that discussions are still ongoing in Capitol Hill.

Ms Fincham said that she had been attending meetings with the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform in Washington this week which debated details of new negotiations in Capitol Hill.

"The Hispanic caucus in the House of Representatives is spearheading an effort to negotiate a five-year temporary work and travel visa for the undocumented as part of a package which would see passage of a bill aimed at expanding the H-2B temporary work visa program," she said.

"Surely our representatives in Washington should have told the Taoiseach that the issue of immigration reform is still being debated in Congress. It's not dead. It's not off the agenda," Ms Fincham said.

"The issue is still very much alive in Washington with the Hispanic caucus effort at the moment to try and cobble together some sort of legalization program in this Congress in this session," she said.

She also pointed to the fact that the President of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, is continuing his week-long tour of the US which is aimed at letting the undocumented Mexican community know that they have his backing.

Ms Fincham said: "It is so poignant to watch the news this week and see the president of Mexico so actively reaching out to the undocumented Mexicans to let them know that he has not forgotten them and he is working on their behalf to find a solution.".

Immigrants Gain Support from Their Government

2008-02-10T20:38:00.001-08:00

It would be funny if it weren't true.

This week, the same week that the Irish Government slammed the door shut on the undocumented Irish in the US, the leader of the Mexican Government is heading to the US to lobby on behalf of his citizens.

This week, the same week that the Irish Government doffs its cap and says it can't be seen to be asking for favours from the landlord, the leader of the Mexican Government is battling on for his constituents.

This week, Felipe Calderon, the Mexican president, says:

The message I hope to convey to Mexicans in the United States is that their government has not abandoned them and will help protect their civil rights, even if they broke the law by crossing the border.

The fundamental message is that we are with them, that the Mexican government is paying attention to Mexicans here in Mexico and in whatever other part of the world, and we are ready to help them with their problems.

Where have you gone Bertie Ahern? What about your Irish citizens in the US? Are you going to dump them like the emigrants to Britain were dumped?

What is Bertie Up To?

2008-02-07T13:07:00.000-08:00

There's a piece in today's Irish Times which quotes Bertie Ahern as saying the issue of the undocumented Irish is off the agenda. Since When? What is going on here? We've been told time and time again that the undocumented Irish are the "highest priority" for the department of foreign affairs. How can they be off the agenda? Can anyone tell us what is going on? There's also a piece in today's New York Times which says the White House is looking at changing some of the temporary working programmes. If immigration is not off the agenda for the White House, how come it's off the agenda for Bertie?

Irish Immigrant Dies Alone in Boston

2008-01-31T15:43:00.001-08:00

A toast to an Irishman, By Kevin Cullen, Boston Globe, January 31, 2008

Eddie Treacy lived in the shadows and died in his bed, the covers pulled up, his lungs full of fluid.

He was 33 years old, and there is no other way to say this: He died too young.

He came to Dorchester eight years ago from Athenry, in County Galway, part of what could be the last great wave of the young Irish to come here.

Boston is still Irish enough for a guy like Eddie Treacy to fit in. There's always enough work, and there are Gaelic games in Canton on the weekends and fresh brown bread every day at Greenhills Bakery in Adams Village.

Eddie was a master carpenter and made a decent living. For a young man, he was old school, using a simple tool called a square.

Eddie only needed one measurement for a job. Others would punch away at calculators, but Eddie would do the calculations in his head, and hand off the wood, cut precisely, like a diamond.

After a day's work, Eddie would make his way to the Eire Pub for a few jars. If the stool next to his great pal, Muldoon, was open, he would take it.

"How's Mul?" Eddie would ask.

"How's Eddie?" Muldoon would ask back.

And then they would silently watch the news on the TV set over the head of Martin Nicholson, the barman. With Eddie, there was no need for long yarns or running commentary.

Eddie was a rare Irishman, in that he was a great listener, not a great talker. If he agreed with you, he would nod, almost imperceptibly. If he thought you were full of it, he would raise an eyebrow, a silent indictment.

Like other illegal immigrants, he wanted to legalize his residency. He would have paid anything, done anything. But there was no way.

He thought about going home, as his brother Michael did, not long after Eddie first came here.

But Eddie liked it here, so he stayed on, kept his head down.

He didn't ask for much. Once, he told Muldoon he would be happy if he died in his own bed and they played "The Fields of Athenry" at his funeral. They both laughed, because young men don't think they will ever die.

Eddie died in his own bed. We will never know if it was stubborn pride or a fear of being deported that kept him from going to a hospital to treat the pneumonia that killed him. Maybe he just didn't realize how sick he was.

Gerry Treacy hadn't seen his brother in eight years, and when he finally did, Eddie was lying in a casket inside the Keaney Funeral Home on Dot Ave.

"He was a quiet lad," Gerry Treacy was saying, as he and Michael prepared to bring their brother home. "He liked the simple pleasures."

Brendan McCann, a senior at BC High, stood near the altar and played "The Fields of Athenry" on his fiddle as they wheeled Eddie Treacy's casket down the aisle of St. Brendan's Church.

All around the church, there were images of another carpenter who died at 33, nearly 2,000 years ago, another carpenter who some people dismissed as a criminal.

After Mass, about 200 people posed on the front steps of the church for a photo to send back to Eddie's mother, Ann, so she would know that Eddie mattered here. Many of the young men standing there had given up a day's wages to pay their respects.

Then everybody went to Sonny's, the pub that sponsored the Father Tom Burke hurling teams Eddie played for and managed.

Muldoon raised a glass to his friend.

"We'll never see the likes of him again," he said.

On Monday night, as President Bush told the nation that we need to find "a sensible and humane way to deal with people here illegally," Eddie Treacy's body was in the cargo hold of Aer Lingus Flight 132, somewhere over the Atlantic, heading home.

Eddie Treacy was buried today, where he wanted to be, in the fields of Athenry.

Kevin Cullen is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at cullen@globe.com.

Pulling their weight?

2008-01-24T15:28:00.000-08:00

Why don’t we find out what our politicians are doing for our friends and family? It seems that those in Stormont are being a little more proactive than their counterparts in the South. Why don’t you phone your local politicians and ask them why this is?

Irish Times -
US candidates urged to back illegal Irish
Wed, Jan 23, 2008

Candidates for the US Presidency were today urged to pledge their support to a campaign to grant around 50,000 illegal Irish immigrants citizenship.

Letters have been sent to all Democratic and Republican candidates for the White House by Sinn Fein Assembly member Cathal Boylan urging them to resolve the plight of the undocumented Irish.

"Despite having made a positive contribution to US society, these thousands of Irish emigres find themselves classed as felons," the Newry and Armagh MLA argued.

"I have urged all of the candidates in this presidential election year, to raise the case for these hard working, law abiding Irish people to be brought into the fold of US life in a complete way, allowing them to be given an amnesty which would enable them to travel freely between their homeland and the USA without fear or penalty."

The issue of immigration has proven a hot topic on the campaign trail in the Democratic and Republican Party's White House races.

Arizona Senator John McCain, who has got off to a strong start in the hunt for the Republican nomination, has received the backing of some Irish Americans for drafting a Bill with Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy which would have created a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

Other Republican rivals have been more hawkish on the issue, with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and ex New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani attacking each other on their immigration records during debates.

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has advocated the building of a 700-mile border fence to keep out illegal immigrants.

On the Democratic side, the front-runner New York Senator Hillary Clinton and her rivals Illinois Senator Barack Obama and former North Carolina Senator John Edwards have pretty similar views - arguing for tighter border controls, cracking down on those who illegally employ and exploit immigrant labour and reforming the system to ensure immigrants do not have to choose between their families and a new life in the US.

Do Something!

2008-01-22T13:16:00.000-08:00

Today’s Irish Independent announced:

Ahern plans his Congress speech

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is now expected to deliver his historic address to the joint Houses of Congress in Washington in late April or early May.

Last night, a Government spokesman gave the first indication of a date being scheduled for Mr Ahern's speech, although he stressed it is entirely up to the US side to determine when it will happen. The dates around April 28, 29, and 30 are now under discussion.
---------
This news comes over two months on from the Dáil’s bilateral agreement to find a solution to the plight of our friends and family in the US. Unfortunately this week I was told by Fine Gael representatives that apart from one meeting on the topic in December nothing has been done.

TD Michael Ring, who brought the question to the Dáil in November, told me, “I have tabled further Parliamentary Questions for answer when the Dáil resumes at the end of the month.” While we are thankful to those in government who are trying to raise the topic it is clear that not enough is being done. At the end of January it is laughable to use Christmas Holidays as an excuse.

We are now planning a meeting of the Friends and Family in Dublin before the Taoiseach’s trip to try to gather momentum on the topic. What is needed now is for everyone to email / phone their local politicians and see what they can do. We need to act now.

US-Ireland Alliance No Ally of Irish

2008-01-17T09:07:00.000-08:00

There's an organisation out there called the "US -Ireland Alliance" which claims that its mission is "improving ties between the American and Irish peoples".

Well someone needs to remind the president, one Trina Vargo, of that mission, because it seems as if she is intent on dis-improving those ties.

Ms Vargo has repeatedly castigated undocumented Irish immigrants in the US, and those who lobby for them, as "pigs".

It seems Ms Vargo believes that this group of immigrants should not be looking for anyone to help them in the absence of federal legislation.

Perhaps Ms Vargo could better spend her time lobbying HER OWN government on the absence of legislation rather than attacking us Irish people who are trying to help our vulnerable countrymen.

Enda Kenny Gives Us an Update

2008-01-17T03:11:00.000-08:00

I just I got a call from Enda Kenny, opposition, Fine Gael leader following an email I sent his office in the morning. In my email I asked what was being done to help the plight of the undocumented in the US.

Mr Kenny explained to me that the Irish government has decided to prepare itself for “March when the Taosieach makes a speech in front of the American congress.” He added that he did not agree with this approach.

“By the time we get over there in March we should be in cahoots with the politicians over there,” he said. “There are politicians over in the US such as Schumer and Kennedy who are ready to talk. Mr Ahern and Dermot Ahern need to get into talks in advance.” This is exactly what we need and what we want. Now we just have to make it happen.

Mr. Kenny has assured me that he will let us know how the government is acting on the issue as time goes on. I’d like to thank Mr. Kenny again for keeping us informed.

If we talk they'll act

2008-01-15T08:14:00.000-08:00

Are you worried about your friends and families in America?

We are. It seems as if everyone has forgotten about them in the fuss over the US elections.

There's only one issue that we care about and that's getting our families and friends legal. We've spent the weekend copying and pasting the details of the people in government and we hope you can take a minute to call your local TD.

Ask them the following question:
"What is the Government doing to help our families and friends get legal in America?"

Those in government need to act. You can find there numbers and others here - www.irishabroad.com/govt/Dail30Contacts.pdf

Talk is cheap; we need action on this!

Pay Attention

2008-01-09T07:33:00.000-08:00

It's good to see that somebody in government can remember as far back as November, when there was a bilateral agreement that "action", on the plight of the undocumented in the US, would be taken. Perhaps the politicians in the Dáil might listen to what Raymond McCarthy has to say.

Plea for States' 'undocumented'

By Staff reporter

Undocumented Irish people living in America should be recognised for their contribution to society and have their status formalised, a Derry MLA has claimed.

Sinn Féin’s Raymond McCartney said it was “simply wrong” that thousands of 'undocumented Irish' in America are facing an uncertain future.He said: "This is an issue that affects people right across Ireland who have family members living and working in America whom they have not set eyes on due to the restrictions on travel enforced by their undocumented status."

Politicians on this side of the Atlantic have an important role to play in pressuring the US administration to regularise the status of the thousands of Irish whose freedom of movement is presently restricted. “A collective push by all political parties to end this wrong must be a priority.”

The full article contains 139 words and appears in Foyle News newspaper.

Questioning Politicians

2008-01-07T09:44:00.000-08:00

It’s has been all over Google for the last two days; New York Daily News, NY, Worcester Telegram, MA and USA Today. Ciaran Staunton, one of the heads of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, in the US, confronted one of the contenders for the presidential election, Mitt Romney, on his “flip flop” approach to immigration.

This is the kind of tactic which we need to use more, as a group. The politicians are answerable to us, the people. Let’s start asking them for answers. As we all know too well issues can fall better the floorboards and be ignored. It’s our job to constantly remind OUR politician who they’re working for: our friends and family.

Call your local politicians and ask them what they’re doing for your friends and families or even better call Bertie Ahern and Dermot Ahern and ask them exactly when we can expect the “action” which they promised us back in November 2007.

New York Daily News, NY

Queens Republican pours immigration anger on Mitt Romney before debate
BY RICHARD SISK
Sunday, January 6th 2008, 4:00 AM

DERRY, N.H. - Mitt Romney's friendly warmup for the big debate Saturday turned into a dustup over immigration with a Queens saloon keeper, who toted a "No Irish Need Apply" sign.
"Have you no shame?" asked Ciaran Staunton, 44, of Sunnyside, who posed the first query at Romney's "Ask Mitt Anything" session with about 200 fans.

Staunton accused Romney of switching to a hard-line stance against immigration. He said there were 50,000 to 60,000 undocumented Irish immigrants in the U.S., "many of them mothers and fathers of American children. Just remember that they're human beings."

Romney shot back that "we simply cannot take all the people in the world who want to come to America.

"We're going to enforce the law," Romney said. "I love legal immigration, but I want to end illegal immigration."

Romney has called for border fences, biometric ID cards and cuts in federal funds to cities that fail to track illegal immigrants. He has accused Rudy Giuliani of running a "sanctuary city" as New York City's mayor.

Staunton, who runs O'Neill's pub on Third Ave., drove up to confront Romney with his sign, which stood out in the sea of supporters.

Bob Connal, 48, of Derry, backed Romney's stance and said when he travels on business to Texas, "nobody speaks English" in restaurants.

Shannon deal should lead to visa deal

2008-01-02T08:35:00.000-08:00

Quid pro quo

By Ray O'Hanlon
rohanlon@irishecho.com

An anticipated deal that would result in Shannon Airport becoming a clearance facility for the U.S. Customs should be contingent on relief for the undocumented Irish in America, according to Fine Gael TD Joe McHugh.
McHugh accused the Fianna Fáil-dominated government of "once again" neglecting the undocumented Irish in the U.S. by missing "a golden opportunity" to bring up their plight with the Bush administration.
McHugh pointed to recent reports that the Irish and U.S. governments were close to a deal allowing the U.S. to use Shannon as a customs and security clearance facility but, despite the high level contacts, Fianna Fáil, he said, had "refused" to bring up the issue of the undocumented Irish.
"Once again the Irish government is going to make a deal with the
Americans over Shannon and the issue of the undocumented Irish in America has not been brought to the table. This subject was debated in the Dáil and we were assured that the government would make every effort to help those in America, but this is clearly not the case," the Donegal Dáil Deputy alleged.
McHugh said he understood that Minister Noel Dempsey and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff had been in negotiations aimed at opening a U.s. security clearance and customs facility at the County Clare airport.
"Senior Fianna Fáil ministers assured us all that every opportunity would be used to promote the campaign of the Irish in the United States yet, despite this massive opportunity," Fianna Fáil neglected to bring up this issue," McHugh stated.
And he added: "Irish people are living like escaped felons in America. All they want to do is pay their taxes and be able to live their lives in a normal way. If the Fianna Fáil government cared enough, they would use this opportunity to bargain with the Americans but once again they have failed the families of those in America.
"Life as an illegal citizen is deteriorating by the week, with reports of hundreds of deportations each month. Many cannot risk coming home, even for their parents' funerals, because they will be caught and deported. If the Irish government applied enough pressure on the U.S., this deplorable situation would no longer occur."
Time and time again, said McHugh, Fianna Fáil ministers had talked a good game about fighting for the Irish in America but when push came to shove they had done nothing. "This Shannon contact is the latest example and it is the undocumented Irish who once again suffer as a result," he said.
McHugh referred indirectly to the fact that Shannon is already a major stopover for U.S. troops flying to and from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other destinations in the Middle East and Asia.
"Whether we like it or not, we helped the Americans with their war in Iraq, and it is high time we got something in return. Many will say that they invest millions in this country, but that is hardly out of goodwill. I am calling on the Fianna Fail government to help our Irish citizens in America and allow them to be home next Christmas," he said.
Expectations have been rising in recent months that the Irish government would seek to reach a bilateral visa deal with the U.S. though such a pact, some fear, would or could not actually cover the undocumented Irish.
This story appeared in the issue of January 2-8, 2008

Another year approaches

2007-12-30T05:16:00.000-08:00

We would like to wish all our supporters and friends a happy new year. Hopefully 2008 will be the year that sees success in our efforts to help our friends and families in the US. The Friends of Tara are threatening to protest Bertie Ahern's speech to Congress whenever it takes place. Sounds like a good idea to us!

President McAleese urges everyone to remember Irish abroad this Christmas

2007-12-26T04:07:00.000-08:00

www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk

[Published: Monday 24, December 2007 - 08:14]

President Mary McAleese says the success of power-sharing in the North has the potential to bring great benefits to the whole island of Ireland.

In her Christmas message Mrs McAleese says the shift from conflict to consensus in Northern Ireland has been dramatic.

President McAleese also acknowledges the lonliness of the undocumented Irish in the United States and their families at home.

She is urging everyone to remember the Irish abroad this Christmas.

Father And Son Separated Again for Christmas

2007-12-21T04:08:00.000-08:00

Father and son, Brendan and Damien Halpin from Beaumont in Dublin, spoke on RTE this morning about being separated again this Christmas.

Damien has been in the US for 21 years and both himself and his father are hoping for a resolution of this issue so Damien can spend next Christmas in Ireland.

Undocumented Irish in US face another Christmas with no visit home - Ring

2007-12-20T09:10:00.000-08:00

Taoiseach must step up campaign for bilateral arrangementFine Gael Community Affairs Spokesman Michael Ring TD has said tens ofthousands of undocumented Irish in the US face another Christmaswithout seeing their families and he hopes the new year will bringnews of progress in regularising their status.In that context Deputy Ring has urged the Taoiseach to drive forwardthe campaign for a bilateral arrangement with the US administration."The grim reality of another Christmas where they are unable to visitIreland for fear of not being allowed to return home is facing theundocumented Irish in the US and this year they also face increasedfear of deportation."A recent Fine Gael motion urging a bilateral agreement attractedcross-party support and there is no doubt that Irish people here athome strongly want to see this matter resolved. I am pleased that theTaoiseach has confirmed he raised this issue during a telephoneconversation with Senator Ted Kennedy but I urge him to step up thecampaign for a bilateral agreement and throw his weight behind everyeffort for a deal for the undocumented Irish. After another sadChristmas for the undocumented Irish and their families here Isincerely wish that the new year will bring new hope of progress onthis issue."

Bilateral divide

2007-12-13T04:35:00.000-08:00

This article was published in this weeks Irish Echo, New York. The paper came out yesterday:

Fears deal will leave out undocumented

By Ray O'Hanlon

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will address a joint session of Congress at a deate to be decided in the New Year. And he has promised to raise the plight of the undocumented Irish before the assembled senators and representatives.

But fears are being voiced this week that those very same undocumented will be left out of a possible bilateral visa deal between the U.S. and Ireland.

The idea of a bilateral has been stirring for the past couple of years but has risen to greater prominence since the collapse earlier this year of a comprehensive immigration reform effort in the Congress.

Ahern and other Irish government members, including foreign minister Dermot Ahern, have spoken of the possibility of a deal that would facilitate easier movement of Irish citizens into the U.S. economy and the same for American wishing to live in Ireland.

Minister Ahern has stated that Ireland has the legal leeway to negotiate a bilateral with the U.S. within the parameters of European Union immigration rules.

Taoiseach Ahern, speaking on Irish radio, spoke of the possibility of a bilateral but in the same breath appeared to suggest that it would not encompass the undocumented Irish already in the U.S.

"There's a chance of us doing a direct arrangement with America, but that doesn't cover those people who had difficulties in the past. We can do a bilateral arrangement that will help new people, but it doesn't deal with the undocumented,' Ahern told the RTE show "Morning Ireland."

Ahern's words prompted immediate criticism from the Ireland-based lobby group, Families and Friends of the Irish Undocumented.

"The friends and families of the Irish undocumented are concerned at the news that the Irish government is going to leave our families and friends out of any visa arrangement," said spokeswoman Kate Hickey.

"The Irish government can't just forget about them and think no-one will notice or care.
"If the taoiseach goes to Washington and addresses the United States Congress without first having solved the plight of the Irish undocumented there will be thousands of us in the Capitol waiting to see him," she said.

"Our friends and families have waited too long and worked too hard to let this effort fail."
Hickey's group recently picked Leinster House in Dublin during a Dáil debate on the undocumented. That debate led to a joint motion agreed to by all parties, in support of seeking relief for the tends of thousands of Irish in the U.S. daily living in the shadows of immigration illegality.

this article available at :
http://www.irishecho.com/search/searchstory.cfm?id=18573&issueid=554

Annual trips to the States

2007-12-12T08:15:00.000-08:00

It has now been 36 days since we picketed outside the Dáil and since the Dáil decided that they would take action on the undocumented plight. Still we have heard nothing back on what will be done for our friends and families.

I’m sure everyone has a similar story to mine. Right now my parents are over in New York visiting my sister and brother-in-law. This year will be another year without them at the dinner table. My father who turned 65 this year decided he had to go because he realised he hadn’t see his daughter in three years, when he visited last.

Last night I spent the evening wrapping presents for my sister and her husband as my brother will be going over to visit them on Friday. He makes a conscious effort to see them every year and coming up to Christmas this seems even more touching.

It’s funny to read about all the Irish going over to the States on their shopping trips at this time of year. I wonder how many of those travelling to go shopping will also be visiting their friends and families who, yet again, won’t be coming home this Christmas.

Remember to call / email / leave a message with your local politicians to remind them who will be missing at your dinner table this Christmas.

Irish Times Profiles Undocumented Irish in the US

2007-12-08T15:10:00.001-08:00

MEANWHILE, IN THE Bronx, in a warm, modestly-furnished, rented apartment, Mícheál and Cheryl McMahon are into their 15th year as Irish illegals. The couple came over in the last pre-Celtic Tiger wave, certain only that their future did not lie in the Donegal of 1993. He was a carpenter who left school at 16 to learn his trade: "There was no Celtic Tiger. There was no work. I was on the dole. I remember I was in my apartment in Bundoran one winter night at around 11 o'clock and looking out the window and it must be that a bale of hay fell off a truck but it was like something you'd see in a Western, hay blowing down an empty street and it was like a sign from God . . ."

He was 20. Young, unmarried and mobile, the couple got three-month US visas: "We didn't know whether we were going to like it. We might have been back." The nature of the farewells suggested otherwise. "There was a big party, a kind of American wake". His father, Mick, was too upset to get out of bed and say goodbye when they left for the airport.

After a few months living with a family friend from Pettigo, Co Donegal, Mícheál got a job as a labourer. "I began to like it. I joined up with the Fermanagh team. You made friends and it became a home away from home - playing in Gaelic Park on a Sunday, with a barbecue, the band playing, the lovely summer weather." Cheryl got a "good job" as a nanny on the Upper East Side, working 14-hour days from 7am. Mícheál moved up from labourer to carpenter.

"Then they took me into the office and trained me, paid for my engineering classes at night school. Now I'm senior project manager. That would never have happened in Ireland. It was them pushing me".

For the first few years, everyone was visiting them and their status didn't worry them. But when a lottery visa scheme came up, they applied for it through a sponsor. Meanwhile, around Christmas 2000, they had decided they wanted to get married at home in Donegal. Everything was going smoothly. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) - now the US Citizenship and Immigration Services - had indicated by letter that they would be approved. Mícheál checked the wedding dates with his lawyer to ensure that their case would not be harmed by leaving the country at that time. They were told to go ahead, but that turned out to be bad advice. "Because of that, I went home one day before I should have so I wasn't able to prove that I was in the country on that particular date". The McMahons were snookered.

Then came 9/11. "That put everyone back at the bottom of the pile." They've had two children since then, Mícheál junior and Íosa, and both are entitled to American passports. But the parents are legal ghosts and, for an outsider, the complexity of each particular case is difficult to fathom. After 9/11, he says, the crackdown on companies employing illegal immigrants made it too risky for many. "After a second offence, they can close a company down." Although he had paid taxes for 10 years, he never got a social insurance number. Others who came out before 9/11 were luckier, he says: "They managed to get into a union and are paying taxes". Without a number, the system is effectively closed.

They cannot get a mortgage, so they will always be renting. He cannot travel internally or get a driver's licence. "There is always the danger now of being picked up. I don't travel inside America; I never leave the Bronx. For vacation, we go to Manhattan [ a 30-minute train ride] for a week and stay in a hotel in Times Square".

And of course there is no question of a visit to Ireland.
Apart from the wedding trip, only Cheryl has been home in 14 years, for her father's funeral. "That was a massive risk", she says. "I wasn't stopped but that's the luck of the draw". In the meantime, a grandmother has died; a sister got married; Mícheál's youngest sister - seven months old when he left - has grown into her teens without getting to know her only brother. Next year, his parents will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. For Cheryl's parents, Mícheál junior and Íosa are their only grandchildren. The separation cuts deep. "It's no life really," he concedes.

Yet, it seems, there is no going back.
"There was no boom when I was there. No matter how bad things are in New York, there's always work, you can always be a delivery boy. I've made a new life here, I've got two American kids. I don't think there is anyone more deserving. I've spent a third of my life here. How long is the boom going to last in the north of Ireland? What would Ireland do if 25,000 people arrived back there next week ? Is Ireland willing to pay for my kids to go to school, for healthcare? Will it have a house for me and a job ? I don't think so."

He sees the obvious disconnect between his case and the fact that so many others like him returned home during the boom that New York's GAA is struggling to assemble teams. "When we came over, there were 16 hurling teams, now there are only four. A lot went home when the [ immigration reform] bill failed in the American congress. But a lot have decided to come back again. I know two bricklayers who were legal and who went home but are back again because the work is not there for them. Another family moved back [ to Ireland] for 18 months and hated it. They couldn't afford to live the sort of life they had here. They hadn't the same freedom at all." The younger elements of the diaspora can be surprisingly unsentimental about the oul' sod.

MÍCHEÁL PRIDES HIMSELF on the fact that he has "never, ever claimed anything off the state". Their private health insurance costs $245 (€167) a month. Mícheál junior's kindergarten is $5,000 (€3,415) a year: "He won't be a burden on the state, even though he's totally entitled to it", says Mícheál firmly. "My dream is of the day when I can call myself a legal citizen of New York and walk in and pay my taxes."

In that case, they're stuck hard, in a climate as hostile to immigrants as the US has ever seen. "I've never been in trouble a day in my life. But I can't apply for legalisation. I entered this country illegally and that's it."

It's time the Irish Government did something, he says. "My brother came through Shannon and said it's like an American army base. How many other countries are doing that? Yet Bertie Ahern can't just call George Bush . . . The action group at home have met politicians such as Ahern and Eamon Ryan but it's always the same thing: 'This is a complex issue.' I thought governments were meant to deal with complex issues." Cheryl interjects gently: "It is complex. This isn't only about the Irish."

Taoiseach to speak to Senator Kennedy

2007-12-07T06:51:00.000-08:00

Independent.ie

Taoiseach to raise illegal Irish with Senator Kennedy

The Taoiseach is due to discuss the issue of illegal Irish immigrants in America with US Senator Ted Kennedy this afternoon.

Bertie Ahern says the issue will be raised during a telephone conversation that will cover a number of issues.

Recent efforts by the US Congress to regularise the status of all illegal immigrants failed due to opposition from some politicians.

Support groups for the estimated 50,00 to 60,000 undocumented Irish citizens in the States are now seeking a special deal for Irish people that would exclude immigrants from Mexico and other countries.

Taoiseach to Address Congress on Undocumented Issue

2007-12-07T02:42:00.000-08:00

Taoiseach says Congress address 'an honour'
Friday, 7 December 2007 10:23

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said that it will be an honour for Ireland, and for him personally, when he addresses the joint Houses of Congress in Washington early next year.
Mr Ahern said he would use the opportunity to raise the issue of the numbers of undocumented Irish living in the US.

The announcement was made last night in Washington during a function for Northern Ireland's First and Deputy First ministers, Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness.

Last night the Taoiseach said he was surprised but very pleased to have such an opportunity.
Earlier this year the Taoiseach addressed both Houses of Parliament in Westminster in London but he said the historic ties between the US and Ireland will make this a special occasion.

Story from RTÉ News: http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/1207/ahernb.html

Week ends on high note for all of us!

2007-12-02T09:55:00.000-08:00

The week ended on a high note for all of us with friends and families in the US.

Bruce Morrison, the man behind the Morrison visas which helped so many Irish in the 1990s, penned a brilliant piece in The Irish Times on Saturday.

The article, which is posted here practically spells out how the Irish Government should approach the US Government. There's no talk of "special deals," or "amnesties", just a clear headed and pragmatic approach to solving this problem once and for all.

It's clearly in all our interests to create what Morrison calls a "culture of compliance," and a new permanent legal path for Irish people to emigrate to the US.

Irish pushing open door in America

2007-12-02T09:53:00.001-08:00

The Irish Times,Sat, Dec 01, 2007

If the Government did not lobby the US government on immigration, it would lose influence in Washington, argues Bruce Morrison

Dan O'Brien certainly likes lecturing the Government about its benighted policies and practices (Focus on Irish illegals in US is policy failure, Opinion and Analysis, November 29th). In January 2005, he instructed on the failure of the peace process to deal effectively with "militant republicanism" and warned that it would "take a generation" for the transformation to democratic rule in the North to take hold. I am sure he meant well, but the Government wisely ignored his counsel and kept on course to achieve the May 8th milestone of devolved government in the North.

I am sure that he means well again with his lecture on the politics of Washington and the conduct of foreign policy as it relates to US immigration. As someone who has actually legislated in Washington, advised former US president Bill Clinton, and lobbies on immigration today, I am confident that he is just as mistaken in his current advice. But first it is essential to correct the record. O'Brien tells Cabinet Ministers to stop "pestering" and "browbeating" officials and legislators in Washington, who they have "harangued" on the immigration issue. Who is your source Dan? I have been working with Cabinet Ministers and other representatives of the Irish government in Washington on immigration, the North, economic investment and other issues for 25 years. I have never seen nor heard of any such behaviour.

Relations between Irish political and diplomatic leaders and their US counterparts are as warm and cordial as anyone could imagine.

But this is about more than courteous exchanges. O'Brien has the relationship completely backwards. He thinks that if the Government leadership would just keep quiet until his idea of an important issue comes up, the US government will then snap to attention and do what it is told. Not likely. Political influence is like a muscle. The more it is used, the stronger it gets. Those who can garner political victories are the ones who get listened to the next time they come calling. In Washington, the meek do not inherit the earth.

Leave it to the Irish-Americans, says Dan. But he has it backwards again. The only reason Ireland punches above its weight in Washington is the political impact of 40 million Irish-Americans. When the Irish Government and Irish America work in tandem, it is a potent team. That is the story of the immigration victories of the Donnelly and Morrison visas and it was the story of the peace process over the past 15 years.

Both the Irish public and the Irish-American public want the immigration plight of the undocumented Irish in the US addressed. What better than for both to show their political and practical unity on the issue?

The single-greatest asset that Ireland has in its relationship with the US is the strength and influence of the huge Irish-American diaspora. This community has been replenished over the past two centuries by repeated waves of arrivals. One generation of the Celtic Tiger does not change those fundamentals.

It is deeply important for Ireland to continue to have a footprint in the US. Unfortunately, US immigration policy has made legal immigration increasingly difficult - so that only 1,000 Irish got green cards out of a million issued in 2005.

The Government is better placed than ever since the success of the peace process and the end of the old disputes to work with that diaspora to address this problem. They have given every indication of grasping that opportunity, including their role in the recent US-Ireland Forum. The immigration issue is a key element of that relationship.

An opinion poll to be released next week will show that 87 per cent of the Irish public believes working on the immigration issue is a major priority. Irish-America feels the same way, as demonstrated by the massive support at rallies for the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform. The Government would be seriously remiss if it did not continue to work on an issue of such importance.

Worse perhaps than all the naive speculation about how "foreign policy" will be damaged by Ireland showing its strength in Washington on the immigration issue, is O'Brien's complete distortion of the proposals that the Government is supporting. The Government is looking for a more substantial number of visa slots to assure a continuing flow of legal immigrants to the US, coupled with a reciprocal commitment of easier entry for a like number of Americans to work in Ireland. The goal is to end the illegal flow and create a "culture of compliance" with US immigration law for those who wish to work and live in the US.

It is in this context of opening the door wider and ending unauthorised entries and stays that the Government also proposes to let the current undocumented be eligible to join that new legal flow by coming home to get visas and be allowed to return without being barred for 10 years, as would happen under current law.

Contrary to being offensive to US politicians struggling with immigration, this approach is music to their ears. Here is the Government offering to create an opportunity for Americans to work in Ireland and to remove the barriers to the Irish doing the same in the US on a fully legal basis. And the plan does not involve amnesty, but rather a return home and a waiver of the waiting time to go back using authorities already long recognised in US law.

No one can be sure if this plan will succeed, but it will not be because anyone resents the attempt. In the US, politicians expect that other governments will pursue their interests.

Former congressman Bruce Morrison was the author of the Morrison visas legislation and a founding member of the Irish-American peace delegation to Northern Ireland, beginning in 1993

GAA Chair points the way in New York

2007-11-25T08:49:00.000-08:00

The New York Ladies GAA team took on the TG4 Underdogs in Gaelic Park in New York on Saturday and we believe the home team ran the visitors close to lose by just two points in the Underdogs series.

The NY Ladies then hosted a huge dinner dance where 500 or so people heard chairperson Nollaig Cleary congratulate the teams on their achievement.

Nollaig pointed out that the Ladies would not be able to send a team to Ireland to play in the Underdogs series because so few of them can travel.

She also urged the Irish Government to get off its posterior and help legalise the Irish.

We've spoken to some of the girls on the teams and they said they're not going to move back to Ireland because, "there's nothing there for us."

The hard truth of the matter is they're right. We can see the shuttered construction sites; we can see the job losses being reported nearly every day now. Tough and all as it is being undocumented in the US, it's going to be a lot tougher being on the dole in Ireland.

Why doesn't the Government understand this? They're supposed to be cleverer than us.

Letters to the Editor in the Irish Times

2007-11-21T07:42:00.000-08:00

Madam,
Immigration reform in the US is a complex and politicallypoisonous issue. No comprehensive solution has been proposed thatwould resolve the plight of millions of illegal immigrants.
In a political system that thrives on special interests and with norelief in sight for any undocumented immigrants, why shouldn't theIrish lobby for an agreement based on their historical and ongoingcontribution to the United States?

Trina Vargo's opposition on moral grounds to efforts to legalise theIrish smacks of elitism. The strong cultural, economic and financialties that now exist between Ireland and the US were built on the backsof labourers who came here over many years. The new Ireland has led toan influx of educated Irish professionals to the US but there are manyIrish who didn't reap the benefits of the Celtic Tiger and for whomAmerica represents a better life. Her ill-judged comments demonstrateher abject unfamiliarity with all the realities of the Irish inAmerica and the Irish American world that exists outside ofphilanthropic boardrooms.

- Yours, etc,
MARY McEVOY, Yonkers, New York, USA.

Madam,
I am a 39-year-old, second-generation Irish American and I aman ardent supporter of a deal for all illegal immigrants living inthis great nation. Trina Vargo's article in The Irish Timesis terriblyflawed from an economic and political standpoint. The fact that shehas worked for Senator Kennedy leads me to believe she has a fairlygood understanding of how politics influence legislation in the UnitedStates. If, in fact, a "small" group of Irish-Americans can influenceCongress to pass legislation for illegal Irish immigrants, she wouldbe a fool not to think that similar legislation for illegal Mexicanimmigrants would soon follow. There has to be a "jumping-off point";someone or some group has to blaze the trail so that all may follow.This great country was created by people who were not afraid to go outand blaze trails so that others might benefit.

As for her glowing economic analysis of Ireland and the "CelticTiger", she has conveniently exposed herself as an advocate ofsocialism. I find no mention of Ireland's oppressive tax rates,economically depressed traditional industries and a socialised healthcare system that is a complete failure. Canadian citizens, alsovictims of socialised medicine, enter the United States daily for MRIsand other tests that they would have to wait months for back home.

I suggest she reads Milton Friedman's classic book Freedom to Choose,because essentially all illegal immigrants want is the freedom tochoose. My grandparents came to this country from Ireland seeking abetter life and they were met with: "No Irish need apply". Who are weto repeat those words to the Irish immigrants or any other immigrantsin the year 2007? History and God will judge us poorly if we continueto force hard working, honest people to live in the shadows of freedomthat so many of us take for granted.

- Yours, etc,
EDWARD NELSON, Long Beach, New York, USA.

Madam,
I am rather disturbed to hear that Trina Vargo, formerKennedy adviser, is so against legalising illegal Irish immigrants inthe US. I know many of the Irish here with young American children whoare leaving the US in droves.

They are replaced by Asians, many of them Muslims, whom US securitythen spends years monitoring. While legalising the Irish may beselective it amazes me that, with 50 million US citizens of Irishdescent, the Irish Government seems so powerless to help the diaspora.Israel, with only about 5 million, does not seem to have any problemwith legalising foreign Jews, but then the Jews stick together, whilethe Irish are so divided.

Many middle-class Irish here in the US who despise the undocumentedIrish forget the fact that many of them got in the back door, oftenillegally, in the past. But that was pre-9/11, of course.

- Yours,etc,
Fr BRENDAN DUGGAN, St Mary's Church, Woodside, New York, USA.

Illegal Irish are a long way from galas and golf

2007-11-19T18:35:00.000-08:00

Tue, Nov 20, 2007

Trina Vargo should stick to Hollywood galas and stop insulting Irish illegal migrants to the US who are trying to regularise their positions, argues Niall O'Dowd

Trina Vargo, who is head of the US-Ireland Alliance, wrote in a recent Irish Times article (Irish illegals not a special case, Opinion, November 16th) that advocates for the undocumented Irish in America should wait for comprehensive immigration reform rather than try and remedy their situation now.

She implied that Irish-American and Irish Government lobbying for green cards for their community and citizens was racist.

She said current efforts to pass legislation helping the Irish were "morally wrong" and were like putting "lipstick on that pig".

Those were deeply offensive remarks to those tens of thousands of Irish abroad whose futures, and in many cases that of their American-born children, are hanging in the balance.

The US-Ireland Alliance busies itself with an annual Hollywood gala, selling Ryder Cup executive boxes and sending well-heeled Americans, both elite college students and golfers, to Ireland.

Their president's intervention on this issue is puzzling. Making "moral" judgments on undocumented immigrants and their supporters is hardly the expressed aim of the alliance. It appears that board members were not consulted on this grand new project.

In the same edition of The Irish Times, Frank Sharry, executive director of the US National Immigration Forum and one of the most respected experts on the issue, said that a decade may pass before a comprehensive Bill even comes up for consideration so toxic has the issue become in US politics.

Unlike Vargo, Sharry said he was "supportive" of efforts to help the Irish undocumented now with a bilateral deal, but predicted a tough battle in the current climate. Yet it is the only route left, with comprehensive reform a mirage shimmering somewhere over the horizon.

Vargo knows this well, but is essentially telling the Irish undocumented they are "morally wrong" to pursue their own interests.

Luckily she was not around during the era of the Morrison and Donnelly visas which allowed an earlier generation to live freely in America after the Irish in America put together a major lobbying effort.

Those Bills also helped large numbers of immigrants from other countries who piggybacked on the Irish success.

This time around Vargo describes us as a "small group of Irish-Americans". We are anything but. Every major Irish organisation in the US bar the US-Ireland Alliance has signed up in full support of the efforts of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR).

The organisation itself now has over 17,000 members from coast to coast, and brought crowds of over 3,000 to Washington on three separate occasions last year. No other Irish organisation in recent memory has attracted such crowds.

Of course, undocumented Irish are not like the polished Mitchell scholars that the US-Ireland Alliance sends to Ireland every year. They tend to be nannies, waitresses, bartenders, construction workers, many of whom left Ireland before the Celtic Tiger.

They are decent people caught in an indecent situation. They are an inconvenient truth for people like Vargo who is secure with $20 million of Irish taxpayer funding and who prefers to mouth Celtic Tiger platitudes to friends in high places rather than worry about unwashed undocumented.

Yet those of us who have come from Ireland know differently, know the ebb and flow of Irish history, and know that as inevitably as night follows day a boom will be followed by a bust and the trail to America will open up again as it has for successive generations since the Famine.

There is an overwhelming need to try to settle the issue of undocumented Irish in the US for once and for all now before another generation begins to come.

There are already signs. At the recent US-Ireland Forum, Orla Kelleher, head of the Aisling Center in New York, reported a sharp increase in new immigrants coming for assistance to the centre in the past few months. That coincides with a weakening in the Irish economy.

The Irish Government and the Irish-American community are doing the best job possible in very difficult circumstances to deal with the issue.

Both the Government and ILIR agreed to work with each other and a number of other ethnic groups, including Hispanic and Asian, to have a comprehensive reform Bill passed. When that failed it was agreed that an effort to pass a bilateral deal would be made.

In that respect, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has made repeated trips to try to secure such a deal. Recently the Dáil voted unanimously to try and secure passage of such a Bill.

As a former Senate staffer Vargo knows only too well that all US legislation, especially immigration law, is loaded with "special deals" that take account of bare-faced politics.

It is not such a dreadful sin, as Vargo would have us believe, for Irish-America to take cognisance of that fact. Chile, Singapore, Nicaragua and Australia are just some of the countries who have cut deals for themselves in recent years. I applaud those countries for their foresight.

Far from preventing others immigrate, a bilateral deal may well show how, in this current toxic atmosphere, the issue of undocumented can be dealt with in a creative way by different countries.

Vargo concludes her comments by stating "it is wrong for the Irish to suggest that 'no Mexican need apply'."

No Irish have ever stated such a thing to my knowledge, and to infer it is downright insulting. Perhaps she might consider sticking to Mitchell scholarships, golf tournaments and Hollywood galas.

Niall O'Dowd is founder and chairman of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform

Perils in ignoring Irish in shadows

2007-11-18T16:40:00.000-08:00

Finally, an article in an Irish newspaper that expresses the real facts about our friends and families in the US, and written by someone who actually understands the plight of the undocumented Irish in the US! It explains the vital role they play over there and what an important role the will play in the future of Ireland.
Read it here.
Hopefully, Bertie read the Indo today and will get the message load and clear!!

We love Michael Ring!

2007-11-16T06:49:00.001-08:00

The people of Mayo are lucky to have Michael Ring in their corner. The TD went on the 1 o'clock news today on RTE to take on this woman called Trina Vargo who has come out against the Irish undocumented. (Click here to see the piece)

Interestingly, Mr Ring says that not only is her organization, the US-Ireland Alliance, part-funded by the Irish taxpayer, she also supported the Irish undocumented last year.

If you are as incensed by this woman as we are, please email the letters editor of the Irish Times. If you're in the US, tell them how long you've been there. If you've a friend or family in the US, tell them how long they've been away. the email address is lettersed@irish-times.ie If you need some inspiration, look at the great post here from Susan.

This is pure shite, this stuff about jobs for everyone in Ireland. If Ms Vargo took her head out of her **** she might take a look at our Irish undocumented and then she might take a look at the counties that they came from. There's feck all jobs in some places - as she would know if she actually went to Philadelphia, New York, Boston, San Francisco and Fort Lauderdale and actually MET some real Irish immigrants.

Irish illegals not a special case - Trina Vargo

2007-11-16T06:39:00.001-08:00

From the Irish Times, Fri, Nov 16, 2007

Irish-Americans trying to get a special deal only for Irish illegal migrants in the US are wrong, argues Trina Vargo

A small group of Irish-Americans is working to encourage the US Congress to carve out a special deal for illegal Irish immigrants, while leaving behind the millions of others in the same situation. They are wrong to single out one group for preferential treatment.

The US immigration system needs fixing, but it requires a comprehensive and united approach. The deportation of 12 million people is clearly not possible, and pragmatism favours efforts to create an earned path to citizenship for those in the US illegally. Sadly, that effort has been stalled.

But to support a special deal that would single out illegal Irish immigrants for preferential treatment would be morally wrong, could harm the US-Ireland relationship, damage the high regard in which Irish-Americans are held, and lead to a divisive debate in the US between the Hispanic community and the Irish-American community.

The Irish economy is strong, and a special deal is not justified on economic grounds. The majority of those attending the rallies for the illegal Irish immigrants are young people, people who came to the United States when jobs were plentiful at home.

These are not people who fled extreme economic hardship, political persecution, physical torture, or an undemocratic government. Jobs are so plentiful in Ireland that in recent years, Government officials have travelled to the US to urge the Irish to return home. It is to be celebrated that Ireland is now a country of wealth, prosperity and opportunity. Now one of the richest countries in the world, it is a not a place anyone has to leave.

Supporters of a special deal for the Irish say there is precedent, that this was done for Australia. What they neglect to point out is that those visas had nothing to do with illegal immigrants. They were about trade agreements and facilitating the movement of professionals to the US. They were temporary visas subject to stringent eligibility requirements. The visas were only available to those with specific professional skills and for specific jobs pursuant to trade agreements.

There is also talk of trying to mask a "special deal" by cloaking it in innocuous immigration provisions but this is just an attempt to, as they say on Wall Street, "put lipstick on that pig".

There are other ways for the Irish to come to the US. Those advocating a special deal for the Irish argue that the Irish don't qualify under most of the existing schemes. In fact, they do. The lobby for the illegal Irish immigrants complains that, in 2005, of 1.2 million people getting green cards the Irish got only 2,000. Yet Spain, with 10 times the population of Ireland, received fewer green cards. Portugal, with two and a half times the population, also received fewer green cards.

Ireland is a country of little more than four million people. Proportionate to population, the UK, Italy, Germany, and France all did less well than the Irish. And of Irish citizens who recently applied in Ireland for any kind of visa to the US, less than 3 per cent were refused.

The overall numbers of Irish coming to the US have decreased because fewer Irish wish to move here. It is difficult to know exactly how many illegal Irish immigrants are in the United States. Some have suggested between 20,000 and 60,000 but that's a guess and these calculations do not take into account the many thousands of Irish who have returned to Ireland in the last several years. A recent Wall Street Journal article noted that the Irish sport of hurling is dying in the US because there are too few Irishmen to play it because "the strong Irish economy is keeping people from emigrating or drawing them back home". It noted that there were 128,000 Irish-born residents of the US in 2005, whereas there were 156,000 in 2000. In 1980, there had been about 290,000.

The success of the Irish economy is a good thing. It is understandable that most people prefer to live in their home countries. Those who came to the US during the Famine and even as late as the 1980s mainly did so out of economic necessity. The Irish economy experienced unprecedented levels of growth in recent years and the success of the Irish economy has benefited America as well. Ireland is now one of the largest foreign investors in the US. Irish companies are now in over 1,300 locations throughout the 50 US states employing 74,600. Ireland ranked fifth in a recent survey of real estate investors in the US. The relationship is indeed vibrant.

I fear, however, that if the future of the US-Ireland relationship rests on Irish immigration, the relationship will falter. Those who care about the relationship should note and expand upon the business and cultural ties, academic and student exchanges, as well as legal immigration. The constant flow of citizens between our two countries is a positive thing that should be nurtured. But given the success of the Irish economy, the future of the US- Ireland relationship will be based more on innovation, imagination, cultivation, and communication, than on immigration. This is to be embraced.

I am very aware of the incalculable contributions the Irish have made, and will continue to make, to America. I am fully supportive of legalising the Irish, but along with everyone else, not at the expense of anyone else. Many Irish remember that their ancestors who arrived in America in the 19th century were greeted with discrimination and were told "no Irish need apply".

It would be wrong for the Irish now to suggest that "no Mexican need apply".

Trina Vargo is the founder and president of the US-Ireland Alliance

Kenny and Ahern clash on radio

2007-11-14T15:36:00.000-08:00

Here's a good clip from RTE radio on the day that we rallied outside the Dail. News at One was interviewing Enda Kenny - who said that Dermot Ahern was being less than energetic - when the Minister called in. A bit of a row developed on-air as Enda Kenny more or less asked the Minister to stop waffling and get on with it. We couldn't agree more. Lads! Stop talking about doing something and please get out there and do something!!!

Friends and Families on RTE

2007-11-14T15:00:00.001-08:00

This is the clip from Questions and Answers on Monday night. Doesn't look as if the government plans on doing much, does it?

Taoiseach silent on undocumented Irish one week after agreeing Dáil motion – Ring

2007-11-14T14:47:00.000-08:00

Fine Gael National Press Office Press Release Disappointment as no action from Taoiseach on US visit

Fine Gael Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Spokesperson, Michael Ring TD, has said that the Fianna Fail Government appeared to have abandoned the undocumented Irish in the US just one week after agreeing to a cross-party Dáil motion supporting a bilateral agreement between Ireland and the States.

"Today in the Dáil I asked the Taoiseach why we still had not heard about plans for an urgent visit by him to the USA in order to progress a bilateral agreement between Ireland and the States. This follows the Government's acceptance of Fine Gael proposals on this only last week, leading to an agreed motion which attracted the support of the entire Dáil.

"The Taoiseach obviously doesn't have much respect for the Dáil or much care for the undocumented Irish since he chose to not even respond to my question and remained silent when it was put to him again by the Fine Gael Leader.

"I have stressed that this issue is at a critical juncture and that the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs must urgently travel to the States to try and close this deal. With no action one week after they signed up their support for a bilateral agreement, I must conclude that they were only paying lip service to the undocumented Irish and lack the will to back it up."

Welcome to the 33rd County!

2007-11-14T14:44:00.000-08:00

Hi there. This is the first posting from the friends and families of the undocumented here in Ireland. We've put this together in a hurry because we feel that time is running out. The time is now, An Taoiseach. We need your help badly on this.