By Debbie McGoldrick

IRISH Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern says that the Irish government is prepared to launch a renewed all-out effort to secure comprehensive immigration reform for the estimated 50,000 Irish undocumented in the U.S. after the midterm elections next month.

Speaking in New York to members of the Irish American press, Ahern said that the government was “disappointed” that legislation wasn’t enacted prior to the November 7 elections, but that progress had been made and the undocumented shouldn’t give up hope.

“We’ve done an awful lot of ground work in relation to a bill going through. We are disappointed that nothing is going to happen this side of the midterm elections, but I think you have to look at the positives,” Ahern said.

“People said a bill wouldn’t pass in the Senate and it did, so that’s very important from the standpoint of where we can hopefully move on after the elections. I do appreciate that people might be despondent, but I should say we’re hell bent on moving this issue further when the dust settles after the election.”

During his three-day visit to New York last week – much of which was consumed with business at the United Nations – Ahern met with leaders of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) and Irish immigration groups which receive financial aid from the government. The meeting with ILIR was partly a strategy session as to how the issue of immigration reform will proceed after the elections.

“We talked about what we have to do in the next couple of months,” Ahern said. “We’re in constant contact with Senator Kennedy’s office and others.”

Asked about the possibility of pushing for a bilateral visa deal similar to the one the U.S. recently agreed with Australia, Ahern said the government’s sole focus was lobbying for a comprehensive bill – for now.

“People have mentioned a bilateral deal. We’re looking at all the options, but our absolute focus at the present is the legislation because we’ve come so far,” Ahern said.

“Bilateral deals are all very well, we’ve had bilateral arrangements before, but comprehensive immigration reform once and for all will sort this problem out forever. “But obviously, if that doesn’t see the light of day, we can look at other options.”

Ahern said the plight of the Irish undocumented in the U.S. was a “big” issue in Ireland.

“I wouldn’t be raising this issue if I didn’t know of constituents who weren’t affected,” he said. “There’s no politician who is unaffected by this. I have personal friends affected.”

Ahern also offered an impassioned defense of Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern, embroiled in the biggest controversy of his career with the revelations of payments made to him in the 1990s to cover costs of separating from his wife.

Ahern called his party leader a man of “unquestioned integrity,” and said he had no interest in taking over the leadership of Fianna Fail if Ahern were to falter.