The 41 asylum seekers from Afghanistan who started a hunger strike on Sunday last night vowed to continue their campaign for refugee status following a meeting with the Department of Justice.
The decision to continue their action into its fourth day followed a meeting of three of the hunger strikers with the department in the presence of two canons from St Patrick's Cathedral, Canon Horace McKinley and Canon Des Sinnamon.
A spokeswoman for the department said the two-hour meeting had been cordial and constructive, and the people involved had asked for space to consider their position and to reflect on the Government's position.
Following a later meeting between church authorities and the hunger strikers, Osman Hotak, a spokesman for the group, told The Irish Times they would continue their hunger strike until their conditions were met. He said most of the men, aged between 16 and 45, were now taking water and remained hopeful that a Government representative would "come forward and help us".
He added that there had been "no possibility" of the strike being postponed following the department's plea to consider the "reality of the situation".
A spokesman for the Church of Ireland confirmed that a meeting had been held between the 41 men and church authorities, and that all concerned had agreed to reflect overnight on what had been discussed at the meeting with the department.
Seven men were admitted to St James's Hospital for medical assessment yesterday as their conditions deteriorated overnight. Two remained in a critical condition in hospital last night.
Yesterday Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said that anybody involved in the immigration or asylum-seeking process could discuss their case with officials in the department on an individual basis. "I've also indicated that I am not in the position of dealing with people by group or making decisions by group. I welcome the fact that the so-called hunger strike has been amended and people are taking water," he said.
Mr McDowell added that his position had not changed and that many people had contacted him pledging their support for his stance on the issue.
"Everybody gets courteously treated, fairly treated, nobody gets any advantage by any gestures of the kind that we've seen in the last while," he said.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern also told the Dáil that the Government had a fair and comprehensive asylum process that could not give in to demands from individual nationalities. "There are 100 different nationalities in the asylum process at present and to concede to any demands from the protesters would have major negative consequences for the asylum system that we built up in the last decade."
He said concessions would lead to similar protests and a major inflow of additional applicants hoping to benefit from similar actions.
Last night, Residents Against Racism spokeswoman Rosanna Flynn called on the Taoiseach to intervene in the hunger strike. She said: "These asylum seekers have endured torture in Afghanistan and fled to Ireland seeking safety. Instead they have received, according to one of the hunger strikers, psychological and mental torture."