A Nigerian family of failed asylum-seekers, including a teenager who is in hospital, are facing deportation unless a final appeal to the Minister for Justice is successful.
Ms Elizabeth Onasanwo's plea for her family to remain in Ireland on humanitarian grounds is backed by staff at Dublin schools where two of her children are pupils.
The Onasanwos have lived in Ireland for more than two years and their claim to remain permanently as refugees has been rejected on appeal.
On the same day as they received notification last Tuesday that they are to be deported, Ms Onasanwo's 17-year-old schizophrenic son, Adewale, was hospitalised with "acute psychosis". He is not likely to be fit for discharge within the next two weeks, according to a letter issued last Wednesday by a consultant at Newcastle Hospital, Co Wicklow.
The family of five children aged from five to 19 years was given 15 days to appeal to the Minister for Justice to allow them remain in Ireland temporarily.
Their campaign to stay has the support of the principal of CBS, Westland Row, Dublin, where Ms Onasanwo's 14-year-old son, Busola, is a pupil. Busola is receiving hospital treatment for an ongoing medical condition.
In a letter to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the principal of the school, Mr Ken Duggan, said Busola was a bright and able academic student. "Should he be prevented from pursuing his path of education it would be a travesty of justice in terms of human, academic and natural justice itself," the letter states.
The guidance counsellor of St Louis High School in Rathmines, where 17-year-old Christina is studying, has vouched for her academic abilities in an open letter.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said it did not comment on individual cases.