PRESIDENT George W Bush was today being urged to ease the plight of up to 50,000 illegal Irish immigrants in the US as Bertie Ahern visited the White House.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern will unveil a “Plan B” for the North in three weeks’ time, aimed at keeping the peace process alive if power sharing proves impossible to restore.

US President George Bush commended the leadership of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern today as he faced a growing crisis in the Northern Ireland peace process.