Almost 50 Brazilian nationals have been refused permission to enter Ireland over the last two days ahead of tonight's soccer match between Ireland and Brazil, it was reported tonight.
The Brazilians are understood to have arrived at Dublin airport on a number of different flights, including from Paris and Madrid, today and yesterday.
Garda immigration officers believed some of the Brazilian nationals may have been using the match as a cover to enter the State illegally. Some have been detained at a Garda station in central Dublin, while others were put on flights back to the cities they had flown from.
A Garda spokeswoman confirmed that "a number of people" had been stopped by the Garda National Immigration Bureau at Dublin airport but said no further information was available.