The Irish government will be presenting a case to President Obama during his Irish visit next week that Irish citizens should be able to apply for special two year renewable visas on the lines of the E3 program that benefits Australia.
"We are going to have to paddle our own canoe," minister of state Michael Ring told the Echo during his visit to New York last week.
Ring, whose ministerial responsibility primarily covers tourism, is a Mayo TD who has long taken an interest in immigration issues and the plight of the undocumented Irish in the U.S.
He said that Taoiseach Enda Kenny would raise the matter of a possible "Irish E3" when he confers with President Obama in Ireland next week.
"We're going to have to lobby our American friends," said Ring who indicated that the Irish government was not holding out much hope for comprehensive immigration reform in the foreseeable future, so was instead focusing on a bilateral deal with Washington.
