Supporters of a six-year-old autistic boy and his family who face deportation to Nigeria later this month have appealed directly to the Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan to reverse the decision to order his deportation.
At a lunchtime protest organised by Residents against Racism outside his offices in Dublin yesterday, some 30 supporters of Olivia Agbonlahor and her son Great, who is autistic, and his twin sister Melissa, called on Mr Lenihan to show compassion for their predicament.
Rosanna Flynn, spokeswoman for the group, said she was still hopeful that Mr Lenihan would do so, on "humanitarian grounds".
"No case is going to be quite like this one, it is not going to open the floodgates for other similar cases," she said. "Mr Lenihan is a former minister for children and we do know that he cares about children."
"Africa is totally alien to them, they are Irish children now, although not officially," she said.
However, a spokesman for the department said yesterday that Mr Lenihan's position had not changed in relation to the matter, and he continues to see "no basis" for revoking the order.
This was because a decision of his predecessor to issue deportation orders in respect of the family had been upheld following several reviews, including judicial proceedings, he said.
Speaking at the protest, Kevin McCaughey, a member of the Clonakilty based Great Justice Action Group, said Mr Lenihan was now "the only person who has the power to allow this very vulnerable family to stay".Ms Agbonlahor and her children are due to be deported on July 19th.