Draconian procedures need review

THE humiliating U-turn by Justice Minister Michael McDowell in allowing a 19-year-old Nigerian student to return to Ireland and sit the Leaving Certificate exam represents a resounding victory for people power.

Thanks to the solidarity of fellow students who protested outside the Dáil against his peremptory deportation, Olunkunle Eluhanla has been granted a six-month visa to complete his studies at Palmerstown community school.

Despite his reputation as a minister who is not for turning, Mr McDowell was embarrassed into relenting by the sheer scale of the controversy, plus the realisation, amid noisy protests spearheaded by classmates of the Nigerian pupil that he had shot himself in both feet.