The undocumented Irish community in the U.S. received a major boost today with the announcement from the White House that it will push forward with a legalization program. Homeland Security boss Janet Napolitano said the Obama administration is seeking a "tough but fair pathway to earned legal status."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton played a major role in securing the release of Irish priest Fr. Michael Sinnott. The priest was kidnapped 32 days ago by a radical group of Islamic militants called the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen has urged workers to embrace reform of the public service rather than viewing it as a threat. He made it clear that a shake-up of the system has to happen in order to make dramatic savings to reduce the country's debt.

Irish TV host Pat Kenny came under fire on his new TV show this week - for the second week in a row. An audience member at "Frontline" erupted in fury as Kenny (€600,000 a year or $900,000) interviewed Government politician Mary Hanafin about the looming cuts in social welfare.

The undocumented Irish have picked up a key new supporter in Congress. Congressman Bill Delahunt (D-MA) has pledged to support the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform and its efforts on behalf of the undocumented Irish in the U.S.

Government officials have warned Irish Minister for Finance that high earners are likely to flee Ireland if he raises taxes again in the Budget, set for next month. Currently many key Irish figures including U2 members, and billionaires

Irish Voice Senior Editor Debbie McGoldrick answers your immigration questions, queries and concerns. This week: I-94W departure card query.

THE promise of immigration reform benefiting the undocumented Irish in America took a quiet but very important step forward in Washington, D.C. last week with a pivotal meeting between Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Ciaran Staunton, president of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) and South Carolina Ancient Order of Hibernians board member Jim Lawracy.

His late Dad may have made a peace of sorts with his beloved Catholic Church by admitting to Pope Benedict XVI that "I am not a perfect man," but Sen. Edward Kennedy's youngest son is beating the war drums.

Five swine flu victims have died in the Irish Republic since cases of the illness emerged in May.

The Irish population in America should rally around immigration reform, said Micheal Martin, Minister for Foreign Affairs, in New York on Saturday. Reform will take place in the first three months of 2010, and the question of undocumented Irish will be part of a comprehensive review of the immigration system.

New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein announced his proposal to create a high school named in honor of the late Pulitzer Prize winning author Frank McCourt at a memorial service to celebrate McCourt’s life and work held at Symphony Space in upper Manhattan last week.

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.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Saturday that it had transferred two prisoners from their detention facility in

President Barack Obama's Irish American ancestors were pioneers in 19th century health care reform. Film-maker and historian Gabriel Murray, who found Barack Obama’s great-grand uncle's tomb in Kikenny, Ireland, uncovered the surprise links while he was researching his new documentary, “Obama’s Irish Roots” (visit www.olympia-films.co.uk for more information).

Chris Dodd could face a takedown or two in the Connecticut Senate race as former WWE CEO Linda McMahon has stepped into the political ring to challenge him.

As many as 35,000 brand new homes are lying vacant in Ireland, according to the country’s largest securities firm, Davy. That figure is up from 20,000 just 18 months ago.

Irish man Vince Keane from Ballyhaunis County Mayo is helping U.S. President Barack Obama to try and overhaul the health care system in the

It was his handshake I’ll never forget, solid and strong. The event was an Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) rally in Washington D.C. in March 2006. Although I was slightly intimidated by the enormity of the situation and those all around me, I was somewhat comforted by the presence of Senator Ted Kennedy and his vivacious handshake.

"Most Holy Father I asked President Obama to personally hand deliver this letter to you. As a man of deep faith himself, he understands how important my Roman Catholic faith is to me, and I am so deeply grateful to him. I hope this letter finds you in good health."

So Rush Limbaugh is patting himself on the back because Ted Kennedy died as he predicted before health care legislation will be passed. Now he is predicting that Kennedy's death will be used to pass health care reform. Maybe he needs another Vicodin — or ten — to calm down.

Senator Edward Kennedy - who freely acknowledged that his own family would not be allowed to immigrate to the U.S. now - was a real champion for the undocumented Irish.

After 17 months behind bars in Texas, a former IRA prisoner who has lived in the U.S. for over 25 years is due to be deported to Ireland at the end of this week -- and is facing more jail time in Ireland if Northern Ireland politician Jeffrey Donaldson has anything to do with it.

Liam Carroll, Ireland's biggest Property developer, is in a desperate struggle to save his crumbling empire. Carroll, who was admitted to hospital over the weekend and is currently unable to steer his company, is embroiled in a legal battle to save some of the biggest companies in his Zoe Group.

On a visit to Mexico on Monday, President Barack Obama told reporters that immigration reform would have to wait until next year, although movement will begin on the contentious issue in fall.

Undocumented Irish immigrants in the U.S. are cautiously optimistic about immigration reform after President Barack Obama said he would provide a "pathway to citizenship" for illegal immigrants. Speaking in Mexico yesterday, President Barack Obama said he wanted to provide a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

The hopes of the Irish undocumented rose today amid reports from Washington that activists have stepped up their efforts for comprehensive immigration reform. They are calling on President Barack Obama to introduce legislation this

‘‘Even if you erred on the side of caution and estimated that one million people got it, and that one in every 1,000 of those people were to die, it is like four jets going down in Dublin airport.” That statistic comes from someone who should know; Professor Sam McConkey, head of the Department of International Health and Tropical Medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI).

If New York Senator Charles Schumer has anything to do with it, the estimated 50,000 Irish undocumented in the U.S. will have an immigration bill to look forward to by the end of this year or early next.

There is new hope for the thousands of undocumented Irish in the U.S. with the news that Senator Charles Schumer intends to have a comprehensive immigration reform bill ready by Labor Day. Schumer (D-NY), who replaced Senator Edward Kennedy as the chair of the immigration sub-committee, is steering an immigration overhaul through the Senate. "I think we'll have a good bill by Labor Day," said Schumer, D-N.Y. "I think the fundamental building blocks are in place to do comprehensive immigration reform."

Hope springs anew in the never-ending battle to win comprehensive immigration reform in the United States. The latest development saw President Barack Obama finally convene a top-level meeting of congressional leaders and key staffers to discuss how the issue might move ahead.

There’s little hope for a bi-lateral deal between Ireland and the U.S. for the approximately 50,000 undocumented Irish workers in the States, according to a leading American congresswoman in Dublin Tuesday.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen, Tanaiste Brian Lenihan and President Mary McAleese will meet a group of U.S. Congressmen led by Richie Neal Monday to discuss undocumented Irish workers in the United States, Northern Ireland and the global economic crisis.

The findings of the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) report on the Irish economy make for very bleak reading indeed.

President Barack Obama promised a complete overhaul of the immigration system at the Esperanza National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. today.

President Obama apparently had someone else in mind before he made Pittsburgh Steelers boss Dan Rooney the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland.

Ireland’s richest developers are being forced to leave their mansions for more humble digs. Under legislation drawn up for National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), the homes will be taken over by the State.

The credit rating agency Standard & Poor's has lowered its rating for Ireland from AA+ to AA.

Former IRA prisoner Pol Brennan pulled off a great escape this week as the Department of Homeland Security abruptly canceled his deportation saying they needed more time to review his case. Brennan, who escaped from the infamous Maze Prison in 1983 had been due to be deported back to Northern Ireland last week.

President Barack Obama today implored graduates at Notre Dame to maintain the school's tradition of "Open hearts. Open minds. Fair-minded words." He directly addressed the row over abortion which has attended his commencement speech and said that both sides must stop demonizing one another. Obama acknowledged that "the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable."

The packed crowd at the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform meeting in Yonkers last week, including a sea of new faces, points out yet again the importance of the immigration lobby organization.

THERE was standing room only at Rory Dolan’s Irish restaurant in Yonkers on Wednesday, May 6, at an immigration meeting hosted by the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform. “There’s nothing going on in Ireland anymore. There are no jobs,” said Alan, 25, a native of Co. Limerick who has been working in New York for the past four months. “They say things are bad here, but I’ve still managed to find construction work. Not a hope of that in Ireland. There will be plenty more Irish coming over here very soon because it’s so bad. I hope ILIR is able to do something for them, and me.”

There was standing room only at Rory Dolan’s in Yonkers on Wednesday as the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform held a public meeting for the undocumented.

Ireland’s latest ally in the Obama overseas tax plan controversy is an unlikely candidate: Rush Limbaugh.

Ireland urgently needs to “harness the global Diaspora and to pull together high achievers from many different countries” says Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin in an exclusive interview with IrishCentral.com.

A group of New Jersey students have come up with some solutions to Ireland's economic problems.

US President Barack Obama has spelled out plans to close corporate tax loopholes on U.S. multinational corporations and crack down on overseas tax havens. The new move will have serious implications for the Irish economy which is heavily dependent on the multinationals.

AFL/CIO boss John Sweeney is “very optimistic” on achieving comprehensive immigration reform and wants to meet Irish groups on ways to bring it about. Sweeney, the son of Irish immigrants who settled in The Bronx spoke in an exclusive interview with Irish

The first Irish case of swine flu is expected to be confirmed later today

The decision by Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter to change parties from the GOP to the Democrats bodes well for immigration reform, especially if the move provides a filibuster proof majority on the Democratic bill in the senate.