A 21-year-old Nigerian woman who came here in 1999, studied for and passed her Leaving Certificate and now wants to finish her nursing studies in Ireland has lost her High Court application for leave to apply for an order quashing a decision to deport her.
The woman was 17 when she arrived in Ireland in 1999. She claimed she was forced to flee Nigeria following tribal clashes.
Mr Justice Gilligan, rejecting her application for leave to appeal by way of judicial review against a decision to deport her, said she had not established substantial grounds for leave.
He said the woman appeared to have integrated very well into Irish society. She had attended a secondary school and completed her Leaving Certificate in 2001.
She was anxious to finish her nursing studies in Ireland but, due to her refugee status, had been unable to continue her studies at UCD where a position had been held open for her subject to a decision on her application for refugee status.