US: As soon as the mid-term US congressional elections are over in November, the Government will renew its efforts to obtain legal status for undocumented Irish immigrants in the US, according to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
"It is a very difficult issue," Dermot Ahern said in New York yesterday. "It is an issue which the Irish Government have put a lot of time into through our embassy here."
Mr Ahern was speaking at a reception for the Irish-American community at the Irish Consulate. "We are somewhat disappointed obviously that the proposed legislation which has passed through the Senate hasn't progressed further."
Both the Government and the people back home had "huge sympathy" for the predicament of the undocumented Irish. He pledged that once the mid-term elections were over and "the dust settles", the Government would launch a fresh drive "to try and bring this to fruition, one way or the other".
Earlier, Mr Ahern met representatives of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform and reiterated the "strong support" of the Government for the group's campaign on behalf of the undocumented Irish.
"The plight of the undocumented gets harder by the day and the ILIR campaign has undoubtedly already had a strong impact in Congress and beyond. The Government will remain actively involved in representing the concerns of the undocumented in the crucial period ahead."
Mr Ahern also met representatives from Irish immigration centres in New York which provide immigrant support and advisory services. Last July, he announced €919,374 ($1.183 million) in grants for 2006 to 14 Irish community organisations which provide advice and support to Irish immigrants throughout the US.
"The services offered by the Irish immigration centres are critical, particularly for the more vulnerable members of our communities here," Mr Ahern said.
"I welcome the ongoing focus on supporting community networks and the development of services for older Irish people in this country. The work that the centres undertake to respond to the particular difficulties encountered by the undocumented in their communities is also of key importance."
Sheila Gleeson, executive director of the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centres, said the situation in the US was particularly difficult for undocumented immigrants. "There is a very anti-immigrant sentiment, not just coming from the Congress," she said. "The atmosphere generally in people's day-to-day lives is very anti-immigrant and so it becomes more difficult for people to live here."
Siobhán Dennehy of the Emerald Isle Immigration Centre in New York said the meeting with the Minister was "very positive". She welcomed the latest increase in financial support from the Government as well as Mr Ahern's continued advocacy on behalf of undocumented Irish immigrants.