The Irish American lobby is a term used to describe the loose coalition of groups and individuals who influence United States policy in both foreign and domestic affairs in support of causes related to Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and Irish American

Irish American

Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...

 interests.

The main issues that have concerned the Irish American lobby historically have been support for Irish independence, support for the unification of Ireland, support for Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 parochial schools, and winning increased quotas for immigration form Ireland. In areas with large Irish populations, the Irish lobby has worked through the Democratic Party

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

.

Formal organizations

The Irish National Caucus (INC) was founded in 1974 by Father Sean Gabriel McManus  at a meeting of the Ancient Order of Hibernians

Ancient Order of Hibernians

The Ancient Order of Hibernians is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization. Members must be Catholic and either Irish born or of Irish descent. Its largest membership is now in the United States, where it was founded in New York City in 1836...

. The INC lobbies for the MacBride Principles

MacBride Principles

The MacBride Principles — consisting of nine fair employment principles — are a corporate code of conduct for United States companies doing business in Northern Ireland and have become the Congressional standard for all US aid to, or for economic dealings with, Northern Ireland...

, a manifesto that demands the cooperation of US companies doing business in Northern Ireland in fighting alleged discrimination and abuses there. The INC
formerly operated a now defunct political action committee

Political action committee

In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a...

 under the name INC Irish PAC. The INC operates a tax-exempt charitable organization, the Irish Peace Foundation, to support "a non-violent solution in Ireland."

The Ancient Order of Hibernians

Ancient Order of Hibernians

The Ancient Order of Hibernians is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization. Members must be Catholic and either Irish born or of Irish descent. Its largest membership is now in the United States, where it was founded in New York City in 1836...

 (AOH) is an Irish-Catholic fraternal organization. The order was instrumental for establishing, in 1977, the Congressional Ad Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs.