Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Immigration activists seeking to resolve the issue of the undocumented Irish in the US claimed today they had not received any assistance from Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on this or other related issues.

Speaking on RTÉ radio this afternoon, Ciaran Staunton, deputy chair of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform
(ILIR), said that in comparison to the Republican Senator John McCain, the organisation had been rebuffed by the Obama campaign.

Addressing the Irish-American Presidential Forum in Pennsylvania earlier this week, Mr McCain vowed to introduce comprehensive immigration reform that he said would give the estimated 50,000 undocumented Irish "a path to citizenship."

He also said pledged to continue to appoint a special envoy to Ireland if elected president.

“We’ve had great access to Senator McCain," Mr Staunton said today.