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Sweden’s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern in Berlin last night to discuss how to resurrect a new constitution for the European Union. Reinfeldt expressed his support for the Germans’ efforts to come up with a draft that all 27 EU countries can accept, after voters in the Netherlands and France rejected the proposed constitution in 2005. After the meeting he said Sweden’s views were heard, and the meeting was part of efforts to get Sweden to play a more constructive role in EU affairs. Germany has held the rotating...

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern reacted angrily to criticism of the Government’s record on housing by Deputy Joe Higgins yesterday, labelling the Socialist Party TD “a failed person” in an unusually personalised attack. Mr Higgins had raised the newly-published report by Permanent TSB and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), which detailed the massive increases in house prices over the last decade. The study made “chilling reading for tens of thousands of young working people in need of homes”, Mr Higgins told the Dáil. “In March 1996, the average price of a home in Dublin was €82,000. This year, 10 years...

WASHINGTON — Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern gave President Bush a bowl of shamrocks Friday and then asked the president for more "transparency" about CIA flights over Europe. Ahern said he asked Bush if there was a way to bring more "transparency" to the issue of rendition. The European Union is investigating allegations that CIA agents interrogated al-Qaida suspects at secret prisons in Europe and transported some on secret flights that passed through Europe. Ahern said that while Ireland facilitates U.S. troop movements and is "happy to do it," there is public concern over the CIA flights. The prime minister...

Yesterday evening the President addressed the National Republican Congressional Committee in Washington. Yesterday evening First Lady Laura Bush delivers remarks at the Ayenda Afghan Children Initiative Benefit Dinner at the Afghanistan embassy in Washington. Today the President met with Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern at the White House later on the President and the First Lady departed for Camp David where they are spending the weekend. The Vice President spoke at a Rally for the Troops at Charleston Air Force Base Click here for the transcript The Vice President also spoke at a luncheon for congressional candidate Ralph Norman in...

Dear Friends of Family & Life, Please take immediate action on the following ‹and please forward to others to do likewise. If you are not an Irish citizen, you can still express your feelings on the matter. An Taoiseach, (Prime Minister) Mr. Bertie Ahern announced yesterday that there would be no national day of mourning in Ireland for the late John Paul II. In his typically evasive fashion he said:  We would ask all people to comply not just for one day but for all.  The Taoiseach's position is deliberately meaningless and mean-spirited. Please contact the Taoiseach's office by...

PRIME MINISTER AHERN: Mr. President, First Lady, it's a great honor to be, again, with you on this very special day. St. Patrick's Day is one of joy and celebration for Irish communities all over the world. It's a time when members of the extended Irish family and friends express pride in our homeland and in the bonds that tie us to Ireland. Nowhere is this more true than in the United States, where Irish heritage has been fostered and cherished for generations. Mr. President, we're very honored that we again share this special Irish day with you here at...

President Bush welcomed St. Patrick's Day visitors to the White House today, including Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern. The President also welcomed the fiancée and two sisters of Robert McCartney, a Catholic man who was killed in a January bar brawl in Dublin. Also today, the President nominated Congressman Rob Portman to be the next U.S. Trade Representative. Enjoy your daily dose of Dubya!

MARGARET HASSAN was kidnapped for one reason - she was born in Dublin. With Ken Bigley, her captors learned how useful the Irish Government is to their cause. By insisting that Hassan is Irish and not British, Dermot and Bertie Ahern have shown yet again how wildly they misunderstand the foe that we face. Had there been no pleading with Abu Musab Al-Zarkawi for Bigley's life, Hassan would never have been targeted. Through her aid agency, Care International, she did more than most to relieve the suffering of Iraq during Saddam's misrule. But once these so-called "insurgents" realised the lengths...

Today President Bush and First Lady Laura traveled to Shannon, Ireland for a meeting with the European Union members and later this weekend they will be traveling to Istanbul, Turkey for a NATO meeting ENJOY YOUR VISIT TO SANITY ISLAND

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Thousands of left-wing activists marched through the Irish capital Friday to protest the arrival of President Bush for a brief summit with European Union chiefs. Rallying under the "Stop Bush Campaign" banner, the crowd of about 10,000 waved signs denouncing Bush as a warmonger and calling for an end to American military flights though Shannon Airport, a strategic refueling point used by thousands of U.S. troops each month. The protesters marched from north Dublin to the south-side office of Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, whose decision to keep Shannon available for Iraq-bound forces has angered many in this...

<p>U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern called for an end to paramilitary violence after holding talks in Belfast aimed at restarting Northern Ireland's paralyzed power-sharing process.</p> <p>Northern Ireland's assembly and power-sharing executive were set up under the 1998 Good Friday accord in an effort to end decades of violence between mainly Catholic nationalists, who want a united Ireland, and mainly Protestant unionists, who favor retaining Northern Ireland's union with Britain.</p>

US President George W Bush used a St Patrick's Day ceremony in Washington to announce that he'll visit Ireland in June for a European Union summit. In an annual White House ceremony on Wednesday, Bush and First Lady Laura were presented with a bowl of shamrocks by Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern. Bush and Ahern expressed unity in the fight against terrorism as they remembered the victims of last week's bombings in Madrid. Abiding friendshipAhern said the ceremony was a reminder of "the close and abiding friendship that has existed" between the two nations for centuries. He said "Europe and...

WASHINGTON - At a time of strained U.S.-Europe ties, President Bush has the backing of the European Union's new leader, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who pledged cooperation Wednesday in fighting terrorism. Bush announced on St. Patrick's Day that he will go to Ireland this June for an EU summit. "Mr. President, Europe and the United States share a common determination to overcome the evils of terrorism," Ahern said as he stood by Bush's side during a White House ceremony. Bush donned a green tie as he maintained the longstanding White House tradition of hosting the Irish leader on St....

President Bush welcomed dignitaries from Ireland, reaffirming the friendship of our two nations and celebrating the faith of St. Patrick, in Jesus, commemorated in both countries. From Yahoo!: "The White House on March 17, 2004 backed plans to investigate allegations that the government's top expert on Medicare costs was threatened with dismissal if he disclosed higher cost estimates to lawmakers. During congressional debate on the bill in November, the administration embraced an estimate by the Congressional Budget Office that it would cost $395 billion in the first 10 years. The cost estimate was revised upward to more than $500 billion...

Marking the first visit to Albany by an Irish head of state, Prime Minister Bertie Ahern on Monday vowed to strengthen economic ties and educational exchanges with upstate New York.Ahern flew directly from Dublin to Albany, his first stop on a five-day U.S. visit at the behest of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. "She instructed me I have to be here," Ahern said, drawing laughter from a crowd of about 300 people, many of them Irish-Americans, at an invitation-only event at the College of Saint Rose's Lally School of Education."It's an honor to be in your patch," said Ahern, who...

<p>When does a "peace process" become more about process and less about peace?</p> <p>That question comes to mind in light of yesterday's Belfast summit between U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Iraq was certainly at the top of the agenda for the 25-hour meeting. But two other festering trouble spots found their way into the discussions as well -- Northern Ireland and the Middle East.</p>

DEAR PRESIDENT BUSH, AS ONE of the few Irish journalists to support your war against Saddam Hussein, I want to welcome you to Ireland. Although Iraq and Israel will dominate the public agenda, Sinn Fein will be privately told the score. Apart from that, you came to say thanks to the Irish politicians who stood by you in your hour of need. None of them are Northern nationalists. Sinn Fein IRA loathes America, fondles Farc, and despises the useful idiots in the Irish-American community and the State Department whom it fooled for many years until it was recently found out....

IRELAND'S economic and political interests were best served by not abandoning "our friends" in Britain and the United States, government leaders told the Dail yesterday. During an often heated six-hour debate in which it was accused by the Opposition of supporting "illegal action" by George Bush and Tony Blair, the Government strongly defended its stance in continuing to allow the use of Shannon facilities for landing and overflights. Though coming under fierce Opposition attack for "facilitating" war with Iraq, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and his ministers strongly defended their handling of the situation. No coalition backbenchers broke ranks as the Government...

Our ‘willing coalition’ launches a pre-emptive strike against all of us By Pat Brosnan [Dublin, Ireland] -- DESPITE the charade witnessed in the Dáil yesterday, Ireland officially supports the US-contrived war against Iraq, which was launched 24 hours ago.Against the wishes of the overwhelming majority in this country, the “willing coalition” of Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats decided that Ireland would aid and abet a unilateral war campaign which is totally illegal. Because our Government is comprised largely of spineless, unscrupulous and unprincipled people, parliamentary democracy in Ireland died an inglorious death yesterday.But ever since they were re-elected, we...

Chirac's Brit deaths snub FRENCH President Jacques Chirac delivered a nasty snub to Prime Minister Tony Blair at this morning's EU summit in Brussels. While other European leaders expressed personal condolences to the PM over the deaths of eight Britons in last night's helicopter crash in Kuwait - Chirac was conspicuous by his absence. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Irish premier Bertie Ahern and Spain's Jose Marie Aznar went over to Mr Blair at the start of the second day of the summit. Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, Dutch leader Jan-Peter Balkenende, and Denmark's Anders Fogh Rassmussen did the same. "They all offered...