February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
They unanimously passed an all-party motion in support of the bipartisan reform effort launched earlier this year in the U.S. Senate by Edward Kennedy and John McCain.
That bill, along with a main rival and other less publicized reform proposals, are awaiting a clear run in what is expected to be contentious immigration debate on Capitol Hill
The debate will largely revolve around how the United States, a land created by immigrants and their descendants, is going to deal with the unflagging desire of millions of newcomers, Irish among them, to call America home.
The Irish vote follow a series of visits to the U.S. in recent months by Dublin-based legislators who have discussed the plight of the undocumented with their Washington counterparts.
And the D_il and Seanad votes will be the backdrop to a visit to the U.S. in a few days by Irish foreign minister Dermot Ahern.
It was minister Ahern who presented the motion to both houses of the Oireachtas for a vote that, unusually, sparked little or no dissent in chambers where fractious argument is the norm.