Leo asked to raise illegal Irish in US

SLIGO County Council is writing to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to put the undocumented Irish in America top of his agenda when he makes his annual St Patrick’s Day visit to the White House.

It’s as a result of a motion tabled by Councillor Jerry Lundy after a rise in the number of undocumented Irish being detained and deported by US Immigration officials.

Cllr Lundy said Vice-President Mike Pence, whose grandfather came from Doocastle, “should be very sympathetic to the Irish cause.”

“There has been an increase across the board of 30 per cent in deportations since the election of President Trump,” he told last week’s March Council meeting. He was supported by Councillors Tom MacSharry, Thomas Healy and Chris MacManus.

“Cllr Lundy is quite right in his assessment of the Donald Trump administration in that it is unfairly pitched against the Irish,” said Cllr MacSharry. Cllr MacManus said: “We need to not just use St Patrick’s Day to raise awareness but the Taoiseach needs to be clear that there are many who will give support on Capitol Hill for this.”