By Georgina Brennan

The Irish government announced an allocation of $35,000 for the annual conference of the Coalition of Irish Immigration

Centers to be held in Boston this weekend, April 7-9. The grant is another indicator of the government’s firm support for immigration reform for the Irish undocumented in the U.S.

In a separate development, Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern stands at the ready to travel to the U.S. to make another push for reform among politicians on Capitol Hill.

“(If) the pendulum is swinging toward a favorable result for the undocumented, (then) we may get something. If we don’t, it won’t be for the want of trying. But the next couple of weeks are absolutely vital,” Ahern told Irish radio in an interview last week.

“I’ve said to my officials, even though I’ve been out there in Washington and New York, many, many times over the last year, I would be prepared to go back out, at the appropriate time, to give one final push to the Irish American community. But it’s fair to say that they’re fairly much on board in relation to what the undocumented want. And we hope that this will be solved one way or the other.”

This weekend’s Boston conference will feature speakers from the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, the Irish Abroad Unit of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, people who have returned to Ireland, the Irish Immigration Center Boston, the Emigrant Advice Center, the Seattle Immigration Support Group and coalition members.

Topics to be discussed include U.S. immigration reform, the elderly Irish abroad, returning to Ireland and setting up advice clinics on substance abuse.

The Irish Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Noel Treacy, who announced the grant, will be the keynote speaker of the conference. The event kicks off on Friday at 11:30 a.m. with registration and lunch.

The Irish government grant was made in the current climate of the government’s pledge to support the Irish abroad.