IRISH PEOPLE living illegally in the US will not qualify for an amnesty and they will have to return home before lodging new visa applications, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said.
Ruling out any possibility of a special deal for Ireland, Mr Ahern, speaking following White House talks with US president George Bush, said an amnesty solely for the Irish was "not on".
He is now placing his hopes on a two-way visa deal for 2009 or later that would benefit 18 to 35-year-olds from both countries. However, visas would last for no more than 15 months and would be renewable just once. In addition, such visas, if the scheme can be agreed, could not be applied for by anyone living illegally in the US, so they would have "to return to base" and lodge fresh applications.
Mr Ahern met for 45 minutes with Mr Bush, before both attended a ceremony attended by Northern Ireland leaders including Sinn Féin's Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness.
Later, Mr Ahern and Mr Bush travelled to Capitol Hill for a lunch hosted by the speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, which was also attended by Ceann Comhairle John O'Donoghue.
Speaking later, Mr Ahern said he wanted to be "honest about these things" with the undocumented Irish in the US, who could number between 3,000 and 20,000. "I don't want to be gilding the lily. There are 12 million people here illegally. We came very close to a Bill with McCain and Kennedy. It wasn't possible to deliver. The concept of an amnesty, wiping the sheet clean, is just not on."
The Taoiseach, who returns to Dublin today, briefly met Democratic presidential nomination contender Hilllary Clinton, and spoke by phone to Barack Obama.