About 150 people braved severe weather to march through Tramore, Co Waterford, on Saturday in support of a Nigerian woman facing deportation.
"Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here," they chanted, demanding that Ms Ebi Ojoh be allowed to remain in Ireland with her two children, aged 15 and 8.
Ms Ojoh, who arrived in June, says she is a member of a tribe which is being oppressed by other tribes in Nigeria, and her life would be in danger if she was forced to return home. Her application for asylum was refused, and she has applied to the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, to be allowed stay on humanitarian grounds.
Addressing Saturday's rally, she said she wished to tell the Government she was not here to make trouble. "I came because I had problems back home. Here I am in Ireland and I want to say Ireland is my home now. I'm here to plead with the Government: please let me stay in Ireland with my two kids."
She could not say why other refugees and asylum-seekers were here, but "definitely something, something moved them from their own countries," she added.
Heavy rain and wind prevented the Tramore Pro-Refugee Group, which organised the rally, from creating the carnival atmosphere it had hoped for. But onlookers who emerged from shops to view the rally were left in no doubt about its intended message. "John O'Donoghue, hear us say - Ebi Ojoh's here to stay" was another chant.
While the group is non-political a number of organisations joined the rally, including the students' union at NUI Maynooth and local branches of Sinn Fein and the Socialist Workers' Party. Members of the Anti-Racism Campaign including Mr Pat Guerin travelled from Dublin.
The campaign against Ms Ojoh's deportation has also received support from the Waterford trade union movement. Mr Jimmy Kelly of the ATGWU said her case was not the only one, and the campaign was going to get bigger.
"We're not going to allow people to be targeted because of the colour of their skin. We're going to stand with our refugees here in Tramore," he said to applause.
Mr Eddie Walsh, an independent member of Tramore Town Commission, said people who criticised asylum-seekers knew nothing about them, and there was a need for people to be educated about the issue. It was a disgrace, he said, that asylum-seekers were forced to live on £15 a week social welfare and £7.50 for their children.
Mr Rory Hearne, a native of Tramore and president of Trinity College Students' Union in Dublin, said racism in Ireland could be defeated. By turning out to support the rally, the participants had shown that Irish people were not racist.
Ms Ojoh, whose application for asylum was dealt with under the fast-track procedure, said when she arrived in Ireland in June she felt lonely. "I'm very happy I have this support, and it makes me feel like I am now at home," she said.
Ms Alison Tuohy, the chairwoman of the Tramore Pro-Refugee Group, said the campaign against Ms Ojoh's deportation would continue.
