A number of west coast-based African women have formed an advocacy group to campaign for temporary work permits for asylum-seekers.
The Advocating for Women organisation also aims to highlight flaws in the Government's Nationality and Citizenship Bill, which is due to be signed into law shortly.
The women, who are mainly mothers of Irish-born children, have arranged meetings with politicians to highlight their situation.
The women are living in hostels in Salthill, and undertook training at the Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUI, Galway, as part of their preparatory work.
The training course was organised by the human rights centre, in co-operation with the Galway Refugee Support Group (GRSG), the Irish Refugee Council and the Women's Human Rights Alliance.
The group's spokeswoman, Ms Lovnia Nneka Nnadi, from Nigeria, has one child, Patrick, who was born here, and is awaiting a decision on her application for asylum.
"Those of us who came here to set up a new life and family, and perhaps escape persecution at home, are stateless, and any children we have may also be stateless. We are hoping our position can be regulated."
Under the terms of the Nationality and Citizenship Bill, which gives effect to the result of last June's citizenship referendum, non-nationals can only apply for citizenship if they have been resident here for three of the last four years.
Time spent here as an asylum-seeker doesn't count in terms of eligibility, in spite of long delays in processing applications.
A scheme permitting residency to non-national parents of Irish-born children was abolished in February 2003, leaving an estimated 11,500 parents of children born here before that date in a legal limbo - including parents who had been advised by Government officials to withdraw their asylum applications and apply for citizenship, based on having an Irish-born child.
However, following the Chen ruling by the European Court of Justice last October, the Government came under renewed pressure to grant residency rights to these parents, as one of the court ruling's key elements was that a child's right to citizenship had no validity without the right to the care of a parent.
The Cabinet has now approved a "reprieve" for migrant parents of Irish-born children, who will be able to submit residency applications next month under a scheme which will close in March.
Ms Nneka Nnadi's group has welcomed the development, but says it would like to see more details of the criteria.
The group, which also involves fellow Nigerians Ms Sidikat Adjboola, Ms Bukola Olabode and Ms Olubukola Olaniyau, recognises that Irish citizenship legislation was among the most liberal in Europe before the proposed legislative change.
However, the women point out that Ireland needs migrant workers, and they are also campaigning for the right to allow asylum-seekers to work while awaiting the outcome of their applications.
"It is not so long ago Irish people were emigrating to the US, and we believe immigrants can contribute to this economy," Ms Nneka Nnadi says.
"We want to be allowed to work and to pay taxes. I often think of the words of United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, who said that if there were no immigrants, there would be no Europe," she adds.
