Deported student gets six month reprieve

The Government has decided to allow a Leaving Cert student who was deported to Nigeria last week to return for six months to complete his studies.

Earlier this week, Justice Minister Michael McDowell flatly rejected calls for Olunkunle Eluhanla to be allowed to return to Ireland.

However, at a hastily arranged press conference this morning, Mr McDowell said he had reflected on the matter overnight and had decided that his original decision was wrong.

He said Mr Eluhanla would be granted a six-month student visa and would be contacted by the Irish Embassy in Abuja today to arrange his return to Ireland.

Mr Eluhanla was among 35 Nigerians deported to Lagos on a specially chartered flight last Monday following the rejection of their asylum applications.

Several hundred people, including many of his fellow students from Palmerstown Community College, mounted a protest outside the Dáil yesterday to express their disgust at the move.