A six-year-old autistic boy and his family have secured a four-week stay on a deportation order to remove them to Nigeria.
Great Agbonlahor and his family were yesterday granted a four-week reprieve by the Department of Justice to allow them time to be inoculated before returning to Nigeria.
It is believed to be the first time a deportation has been delayed to allow inoculation.
However, the practice is not expected to become commonplace, the department has said
In a letter to the Agbonlahors' Dublin-based solicitor Kevin Murphy, which he received yesterday, the department said it was "not the practice to give applicants time to be inoculated prior to deportation nor is it intended to become the practice".
The letter granted a four-week stay on the deportation.
Mr Murphy said he was "disgusted" by the attitude of the department and said provision should be made for all immigrants to be inoculated before returning to countries where without vaccination they could be susceptible to potentially fatal diseases. He added that the fight to allow Great, his mother Olivia and twin sister, Melissa, to remain in this country was not over.
The family, who live in a hostel in Tralee, Co Kerry, have been fighting to remain in Ireland on the grounds that autism is not accepted in Nigerian culture and Great will be marginalised there because of his condition.
Two weeks ago they withdrew their High Court challenge to the decision of former minister for justice Michael McDowell to sanction their deportation.
"This is a genuine case and we hope the [ current] Minister [ Brian Lenihan] will have a change of heart and allow the family remain here.
"We don't want a change in the law - we want the Minister to make an exception," said Mr Murphy.
"If Great was the subject of religious persecution or was a member of an outlawed political party we would have a case. But he's not - he's autistic - which in Nigeria means he will be ostracised and worse."
The family must sign on at the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) in Dublin today. Up to yesterday there was the possibility that they could have been deported upon presentation there.
Great was born in Italy and has lived in Ireland with his sister and mother for four years.
The Department of Justice said earlier this month that the decision to issue deportation orders in respect of the Agbonlahor family had been upheld following several reviews, including judicial procedures.
A spokeswoman said that as a result Mr Lenihan saw no basis for revoking the deportation orders.