A six-year-old autistic Nigerian boy and his family have withdrawn their new application seeking the High Court's permission to bring a legal challenge to their proposed deportation.
The move comes as the Agbonlahor family have asked Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan to reconsider their application to stay here.
At the High Court yesterday, counsel for the Agbonlahors Cormac Ó Dulacháin SC told Ms Justice Mary Irvine that his client no longer wished to go ahead with the application to seek permission to bring a legal challenge to the proposed deportation.
The family had also intended to seek an injunction pending the outcome of that challenge, however that also has been withdrawn.
Ms Agbonlahor and her children are due to be deported on July 19th.
Great Agbonlahor, his twin sister Melissa and their mother Olivia were set to challenge the decision by former minister Michael McDowell to deport them after new medical evidence emerged in relation to Great.
Ms Agbonlahor (36), with an address at Clonakilty, Co Cork, has contended that her son would be treated as an outcast in Nigeria because of his condition and that his sister would be seen as a "voodoo sibling".
Last April, the family lost a judicial review challenge to a deportation order. Mr Justice Kevin Feeney ruled he was satisfied that the decision of the Minister for Justice last year not to revoke the deportation orders for the family was not a violation of their rights.
Last month the Department of Justice refused to review the deportation order on foot of a new application based on a new diagnosis that Great was autistic and not suffering from ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) as previously thought.
However, now there are indications that Mr Lenihan may reopen the case.
While neither Ms Agbonlahor, who was in court yesterday, nor her legal representatives were making any comment on the matter, it is understood that the family and their supporters remain hopeful that Mr Lenihan will review the case.
The twins were born in Italy and the family arrived in Ireland in March 2003. They settled in Clonakilty, where Ms Agbonlahor is said to enjoy considerable support from the community.