A Korean student living in the Republic has claimed she was treated unfairly when she was refused admission to a college in Dublin.
However, the college has said the admission refusal arose from a misunderstanding.
Ms Myung Sook Cho, a university graduate who speaks three languages, received a letter from Stillorgan College of Further Education on Friday last telling her that the Travel and Tourism course she applied for was "full".
However, when The Irish Times rang Stillorgan College of Further Education, the principal of the college, Mr Michael Carolan, stated that there were still places available on the course. Established in 1965, the college is run by County Dublin VEC and offers courses in art, computers, media studies, multimedia and photography.
Fluent in Japanese, Ms Cho worked as a tour guide in Korea and Japan, and received the rejection letter two days after attending an interview for the course.
When asked why Ms Cho was told that course was "full" when it was not, Mr Carolan said she should not have been told that, and that she was not enrolled because it was believed that her English was not good enough.
"If that is what the college thought, they should have told me. I would have accepted that," said Ms Cho.
Ms Cho has been accepted for a full-time course in Business Studies by Senior College in Dún Laoghaire.
Mr Carolan said Ms Cho's nationality was not an issue for the college. Stillorgan College already has some non-EU students.