{"id":283212,"date":"2026-02-06T03:19:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T03:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/283212\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T03:19:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T03:19:08","slug":"david-gillick-among-those-calling-for-south-african-teen-and-family-not-to-be-deported-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/283212\/","title":{"rendered":"David Gillick among those calling for South African teen and family not to be deported \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Athlete David Gillick is among those advocating for a teenage boy and his family to stay in Ireland after they were issued with a deportation order.<\/p>\n

Titilayo Oluwakemi Oyekanmi and her three sons, Samuel, Joseph and Genesis, came to Ireland in late 2023 from South Africa. Their asylum application was rejected and a subsequent appeal was unsuccessful. <\/p>\n

The family received a deportation order in April 2025. <\/p>\n

Titilayo hoped this decision would be overturned, but last week received a letter informing her they had to move from an Ipas<\/a> accommodation centre in Sandyford, Co Dublin, to a different centre in Castleknock this Friday, before their deportation on February 12th.<\/p>\n

Her sons, who range in age from five to 18, are attending local schools and sports clubs.<\/p>\n

Members of the community have appealed to the Department of Justice<\/a> to not proceed with the deportation, saying the removal of the family would be a huge loss to the area.<\/p>\n

The two older boys are talented at sports and play rugby with De La Salle Palmerston FC. Joseph (14) is a member of Dundrum South Dublin (DSD) Athletics Club and recently qualified for the national indoor junior athletics championships in sprinting and the high jump. He has been attending Gonzaga College<\/a> on a scholarship since September.<\/p>\n

Gillick, who has coached Joseph at DSD Athletics Club, wrote a letter to the Department of Justice on behalf of the family.<\/p>\n

In the letter, the national men\u2019s 400m record holder said Joseph has \u201cremarkable athletic ability\u201d and \u201chas been an absolute joy to coach\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeyond his athletic achievements, Joseph is an exceptional young person \u2013 full of life, ambition, and dreams. His talents extend beyond athletics, as he is already making an impact on the rugby field with Gonzaga College.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoseph\u2019s family has also made a wonderful contribution to both the local and wider community. They have integrated seamlessly and serve as shining examples of how successful and positive integration can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter was one of several sent to the department in support of the family in recent months.<\/p>\n

\"JosephJoseph (14) is a member of\u00a0Dundrum South Dublin Athletics\u00a0Club and hopes to represent Ireland one day <\/p>\n

Gr\u00e1inne McAdam, a coach at DSD Athletics Club, said Joseph has so much potential he could compete for Ireland one day.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom our perspective, he\u2019s a massive sporting advantage to the country. We see a lot of potential in him, in the sense that the plan for the future is that he would represent Ireland,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast weekend, he competed in the Dublin championships, juvenile championships, and is qualified for the national championships, which are likely to happen in March, but we don\u2019t know whether he\u2019ll even be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SamuelSamuel (18) is a talented rugby player with\u00a0De La Salle Palmerston FC <\/p>\n

Samuel (18) is sitting his mocks at Ballinteer Community School this week and is due to sit his Leaving Cert<\/a> exams in June, but may not be here by then.<\/p>\n

Ballinteer Community School wrote to the Department of Justice on Samuel\u2019s behalf on January 30th.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe school is most anxious that Samuel remain in school here to sit his Leaving Certificate as we feel a move from the area would not be in his best interest at present,\u201d the letter said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be extremely difficult for him to join a new school at this stage of the academic year. His teachers feel that continuity with his studies will give him the best opportunity to reach his full potential in his future education and career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finbarr O\u2019Brien, the manager of Samuel\u2019s team at De La Salle Palmerstown FC, said the family are \u201cfabulous people\u201d. He said deporting them would not only have a negative impact on the boys\u2019 futures, but also be a huge loss to their friends and the wider community.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Hundreds rally in Dublin to demand amnesty for 1,500 asylum seekersOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Titilayo said she fears for their lives if they are sent back to South Africa. She is originally from Nigeria and said she was targeted for xenophobic reasons while living in South Africa. She said she decided to seek asylum in Ireland after being beaten by a gang and threatened at gunpoint.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was why I ran for my life with my children,\u201d Titilayo said.<\/p>\n

She said she wants to work and provide for her family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not depending on any benefit from the country. I can work myself, I\u2019m a hardworking woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Africa is one of several countries deemed a \u2018safe country of origin\u2019 by the Department of Justice. People from these countries have the opportunity to submit grounds, in writing and at interview, as to why their country is not safe for them. <\/p>\n

A spokesman said the department cannot comment on individual cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople can apply for international protection in Ireland if they have come to escape persecution in their own country or if they cannot return to their country because they have a well-founded fear for their safety,\u201d a statement noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth the International Protection Office and the International Protection Appeals Tribunal are fully independent in deciding whether or not to grant international protection. Each application is examined individually on its own merits, in line with national and international asylum law.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who have been refused international protection and have exhausted the appeals avenues through the IPAT are entitled to submit a request to review their permission to remain where their circumstances have changed since their initial application.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement added that if a person\u2019s application for international protection is refused and they are ordered to leave the State, \u201cthey must do so\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cTheir case to remain in the State has been considered in detail and the appeals processes have been concluded. <\/p>\n

\u201cBefore a deportation order is made, the person is offered assistance to return home voluntarily. This is the preferred option and the department runs a voluntary return programme to assist people to return prior to a deportation order issuing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Athlete David Gillick is among those advocating for a teenage boy and his family to stay in Ireland…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283213,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[9691,136602,61,32652,34148,60,3184,112],"class_list":["post-283212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-department-of-justice","tag-gonzaga-college","tag-ie","tag-international-protection-accommodation-services-ipas","tag-international-protection-office","tag-ireland","tag-leaving-certificate","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}