The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform was last night due to sign a controversial agreement with Nigeria aimed at speeding up the deportation of failed asylum-seekers, despite protests from human rights campaigners.
Mr O'Donoghue was in the Nigerian city of Abuja yesterday to finalise the readmission deal.
The agreement, due to take effect within months, will set procedures for deporting illegal immigrants to Nigeria, replacing current ad-hoc arrangements with the Nigerian authorities.
Green Party MEP Ms Patricia McKenna yesterday joined the chorus of protest against the deal, claiming it was in breach of the European Convention of Human Rights. The Convention "expressly states" in Article 4 of Protocol 4 that "collective expulsion of aliens is prohibited", she said, adding that Mr O'Donoghue was abusing the concept of "safe country of origin".
"I think it is quite shocking and profoundly hypocritical that our Minister for Justice should, on his way to an international conference on racism, strike a deal with the most corrupt regime in Africa in order to speed up deportations of Nigerian asylum-seekers," she said
A spokesman for the Department said, however, that all applicants for refugee status had their cases heard individually by the Refugee Asylum Commissioner who had full autonomy. If unsuccessful they could appeal to the "totally independent" Appeals Tribunal.
The deal has been criticised by a range of campaign groups including the Association of Refugees and Asylum-Seekers in Ireland, the Union of Nigerian Citizens Resident in Ireland, Residents Against Racism and the association of returned development workers Comhlamh.