The woman who claims she will be stoned to death if deported to her native Nigeria and who faces imminent deportation, meets her legal team this morning.
Ms Nimota (Kate) Bamidele (39) was yesterday refused leave to seek a judicial review of the deportation order made against her. Supporters said they were "devastated" by the decision.
From Zamfara state in northern Nigeria, Ms Bamidele says she was sentenced to be stoned to death two years ago for having her three children outside marriage and with a Christian man.
She will be killed if returned, she says. Having failed in her asylum application, her application for humanitarian leave to remain has also failed. A petition of more than 1,000 signatures calling on the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, to intervene and cancel her deportation, was handed in to his party headquarters last month.
Her case has been supported by the National Women's Council, the Union of Students in Ireland, Residents Against Racism, the ATGWU, the Labour Party, the Green Party and Sinn Féin.
Ms Rosanna Flynn of Residents Against Racism said yesterday the organisation was "absolutely devastated".
Mr Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD of Sinn Féin said it was a "sad day for Ireland that we would send a person back to a country that has such laws". He said her situation must be monitored if she is deported to ensure "nothing happens to her".
A Nigerian Embassy spokesman declined to comment.
It now seems likely Ms Bamidele will be deported on the next deportation aircraft to Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the New York-based Human Rights Watch has described the Sharia code of law as a "systematic violation of citizens' fundamental human rights".
The report, Political Shariah: Human Rights and Islamic Law in Northern Nigeria, says women face particular discrimination especially in adultery cases where mere pregnancy is considered adequate evidence of guilt.
Ten death sentences - by stoning - have been imposed since Sharia was introduced in northern Nigeria in 1999.
