Any attempt to provide a definitive listing of Ireland's most influential people right now is like trying to catch hold of quicksilver. Everything is changing by the nano second and influential people are emerging in just about f every walk of life all the time. However amidst all this change the one constant remains the people of Ireland, its richest resource. Their genius, their capacities, their energy and their k great qualities of eternal optimism is made manifest within these pages.Historically the Irish have also played a major role making the United States the powerful nation it is. From the board rooms of Wall Street all the way to the moon, men and women with Irish roots are changing the face of America and the world. Eileen Collins, with roots in Co.| Cork was the first woman to command a space shuttle; Tommy Hilfiger's fashion are known all over the world; first generation Irish American John Sweeney is the most powerful labor leader in the United States; Paris Hilton is the world's most chronicled celebutante; Tim Russert, Managing Editor and Moderator of NBC's Meet The Press, has roots in Cork and is a relation of Christy Ring; Regis Philbin is first generation Irish American with roots in the West of Ireland; James Hickey, Colonel US Army, his parents emigrated from Co. Clare, was leader of the division that captured Saddam Hussein and Joanne Hayes-White is the first woman Fire Chief in San Francisco, her father hails from Co. Limerick.