Some members of the Irish community have expressed their disappointment at the news that the Irish government has secured the allotment of 20,000 U.S. visas for Irish citizens on an annual basis.

Several undocumented who have been campaigning with the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) for more than two years in an effort to get legalized, expressed their upset at the Irish government for agreeing to provide 20,000 visas to new Irish citizens and not doing anything to sort out the issue of the estimated 50,000 Irish undocumented currently residing in the U.S., some for nearly 20 years.

Mary Brennan, who has been a member of the ILIR since its inception in 2006, told the Irish Voice on Tuesday she was extremely disappointed in the Irish government. "Taoiseach Brian Cowen said when he was here in July, he said he would make the issue of the Irish undocumented here in America a priority and nothing has been done," said Brennan.

Describing the new visas as a "slap in the face for the undocumented from the government," Brennan added, "Now he is giving 20,000 visas to people that are living in Ireland. We have been fighting for the last few years for the 50,000 Irish who are living here."

Brennan feels the only solution to the issue for now is to keep "shouting at McCain and Obama about what we want and need."

It's Brennan's opinion that the visas are a solution to the downtrodden economy in Ireland."I think this is an economy based visa. The Irish government is not looking beyond the one year. What will happen is the 20,000 will also be illegal on top of the 50,000 already here because the Irish economy is not going to rise in the next five or six years."

Ignoring the bigger picture is what Brennan feels the Irish government is currently doing. "They are putting a band aid on this for 12 months," she said.

Brennan, who has been living in the U.S. for more than 15 years, said her only hope left is the E-3 visa being proposed by ILIR. (A visa program between Ireland and the U.S., based on the Australian E-3 model, which might allow undocumented to go home and become documented through a process.)

"I'm just hoping that the E-3 visas will come out of the shadows after the election," Brennan said.

An undocumented Donegal woman who has been in the U.S. for seven years feels Cowen "has a problem over there" and is trying to find a short-term solution to keep the country happy.

"And by doing that and sending 20,000 new Irish here he is forgetting about us," she said. "It's just very frustrating."

Pinning her hopes on the proposed E-3 visa, the Donegal woman said she wouldn't be relying too much on the help of the Irish government. "I don't think they will help us at all. We're out of their way," she said.

Offaly immigrant, Irene Delaney also feels let down. "We didn't get what we were promised and I'm disappointed," she said reacting to the news.

"We're like ghosts living in this country now. We don't exist in this country and we don't exist in our own country anymore either," said Delaney, who has been living in New York for four years.

Dermot Byrne, another member of ILIR since it began, said he too felt like he received a slap in the face from the Irish government. "Dermot Ahern (then Minister for Foreign Affairs) promised us he would look after us and we are still waiting," said Byrne, who has been in the U.S. for nearly 20 years.

Byrne feels these new visas may "hurt the undocumented."

"The U.S. may not help us now. If you can't rely on your own then who can you rely on?" he asked.