Archbishop's anger over deportation of student

Last week’s deportation of a Nigerian student should have been postponed until after his Leaving Cert exams in June, a church leader claimed today.

The repatriation of 19-year-old Olunkunle Eluhanla – a pupil at Dublin’s Palmerstown Community College – sparked more angry protests outside the Dáil today.

Opposition parties joined refugee groups and the TUI teachers’ union in calling for Mr Eluhanla to be allowed return to Ireland.

Over 300 protestors, among them Mr Elunhanla’s fellow students, later marched to the offices of the Justice Department.

Today the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin said it was hard to understand why the deportation could not have been postponed until after the Leaving Cert.

He said: “It is hard to understand why deportation, if deemed necessary, could not have been postponed in this case for a few weeks.

“At the very least, returning home with a certificate in his pocket would have been a boost to an intelligent young man, and have given him something of a better start in his own country.”

He appealed to the authorities to use to the full the discretionary powers they possess.

Minister McDowell told a heated debate in the Dáil last night that it was not true that the student was 19 years old or that he was deported while wearing his school uniform.

He reiterated that Mr Eluhanla’s case went through two independent review bodies – the Refugee Applications Commissioner and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal - and he would not intervene now.