Mayors and other senior municipals authorities from more than 100 cities will convene next week in Dublin, Ireland, to discuss, debate and deliberate solutions to growing urban poverty challenges made more severe by the current economic crisis. The cities include those from across Europe, but also from as far away as Ankara, Abeokuta and Addis Ababa to Beijing, Banjul, Cairo and Khartoum.

Irish-born Obama official Samantha Power could be the next U.S. Ambassador to the UN according to the Washington Post.

Tanaiste (deputy leader) and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore begins a busy program of political and economic events in New York on Wednesday, culminating on Friday, when he will deliver Ireland’s national statement at the general debate of the of the United Nations General Assembly.  

The family of Michael Dwyer, the Tipperary man who was shot and killed in Bolivia in 2009, met with UN officials on Thursday regarding the case. Dwyer’s family believes that Michael was gunned down in his sleep, and discount a plot conspiracy as reason for his death.

A 16-year-old Cork teenager delivered an inspirational keynote address on Thursday to a packed conference at the United Unions in New York City.

A new United Nations report has found Ireland to be the tenth happiest country of the 156 surveyed in the world. The news comes as bit of a shock with Ireland’s bleak economic forecast.

The Irish Government has rejected six recommendations by the UN Human Rights Council to legalize or partially legalize abortion, according to the Irish Times.

The Irish government has been urged to introduce several human rights treaties to protect the most venerable in society, such as those with disabilities, migrants and prisoners.

The Irish Government will be called to account for Ireland’s almost total ban on abortion laws at the UN on Thursday.

Ireland’s deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Eamon Gilmore has backed the Palestinian bid for membership of the United Nations, when he addressed the UN General Assembly this morning, during his state visit to New York.

President Barack Obama cited Northern Ireland as an example of how conflict can be ended when speaking at the UN yesterday.

Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Eamon Gilmore arrived in New York on Monday for an extensive program of engagements at the UN during the week, including an address on Tuesday at the High Level Meeting on Nutrition.

Palestinians expect Irish support for their application to be recognized as a state at the United Nations in September, according to a senior politician.

In the first review of its kind carried out in Ireland the UNCAT (Committee against Torture) called for a prompt investigations into prosecutions over the Ryan Report into child abuse in church-run institutes. 

The UN Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) has recommended that an independent inquiry be carried out into the abuse of women in Magdalene laundries in Ireland. 

The Irish government will face tough questions today over the state of Irish prisons.

The Irish advocacy group seeking justice for the Magdalenes (the generations of Irish women hidden away, often for life, at the Magdalene laundries) took their campaign to the United Nations Committee Against Torture this week.

READ MORE ]]> http://www.irishcentral.com/news/UN-Director-leaves-Gaza-for-new-post-in-New-York-114192979.html http://www.irishcentral.com/news/UN-Director-leaves-Gaza-for-new-post-in-New-York-114192979.html Wed, 19 Jan 2011 01:58:32 PST
By: MOLLY MULDOON

John Ging, the director of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza to take up a senior position in the UN in New York.