A Nigerian who has applied for residency in the Republic will represent Ireland at the Mr Universe competition in Manchester in October. He was granted a special visa allowing him to leave and re-enter the State.
Mr Leo Ibrahim was crowned Mr Ireland at the national body-building championships in Dublin last year. As the title holder he was due to represent Ireland at the European body-building championships in St Petersburg last December.
However, because his residency application had not been processed by the authorities here he was unable to travel. Non-nationals waiting for residency applications to be processed need a special visa to leave and re-enter the State.
A decision on Mr Ibrahim's residency application is still pending but the Department of Justice has agreed to grant him a special visa allowing him to participate, along with 10 other Irish contestants, in the Mr Universe competition on October 2nd.
"Obviously I'm very happy to be going. A lot of friends of mine who are involved in the Irish Amateur Boxing Association and who live near me in Drogheda have written to the Minister for Justice to help me get the visa," he said.
"I don't know how I'm going to do but I just plan to work as hard as I can until the competition and see how it goes. It's a very big competition so I can't make any predictions. If some guys who are entering are working harder than me that will show in the competition."
The 31-year-old father of two has been in Ireland with his wife for the last three years. He began weightlifting in his native Lagos when he was 17. He worked as a bodyguard for Nigerian celebrities and politicians while in his 20s. However, he decided to seek asylum in Ireland after becoming uncomfortable at requests made by some of his employers.
"They'd ask me to go and see this guy or that guy, to beat them up or lock them up or whatever. I wasn't going to do that. But once you are [involved with people] it is very hard to break away, so we decided to leave."
Despite the fact he is not yet an Irish citizen, Mr Ibrahim is eligible to represent Ireland at Mr Universe under international body-building rules which state anybody living in a country for two years or more can represent that country in competitions.
