“Cherishing All The Children”

Ógra Shinn Féin has called on the Department of Justice to acknowledge the exceptional circumstances of six-year old Nigerian Great Agbonlohar who is diagnosed with autism by granting him permission to stay in Ireland.

Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s demonstration in support of Great and his family outside the Department of Justice organized by Residents Against Racism, spokesperson for Ógra, Oisín Ó Dubhláin said:

“The treatment of this most vulnerable child by the state as a burden, an unwanted non-person, is not only despicable but goes completely against the very basis of republicanism and is a massive indictment of the 26 county states complete lack of compassion and empathy for its people.”

“Great has lived on the island of Ireland for more than two thirds of his life. Here he has access to the limited but still somewhat helpful facilities for children with autism. Returning him to Nigeria an impoverished, war torn nation with little or no ability to aid the development of children like Great is an act of cold inhumanity.”

“If the wealth of a society is based on how it treats it’s most vulnerable then we are a very poor society indeed.”