No special deal for 50,000 illegal Irish, US tells Ahern

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern was last night told there could be no special deal for the 50,000 Irish illegals in the US as he used the annual St Patrick’s Day visit to Washington DC to battle to save them from deportation.

Republican Senator John McCain insisted the workers could only be included in an overall agreement dealing with the 12 million such foreigners believed to be in America.

He said he was hopeful the legislation he and Senator Ted Kennedy are championing will prevail over more draconian attempts to tighten immigration laws.