American Sues Over Son

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American Sues Over Son

December 21, 2007

By Paddy Clancy

AN American student in Galway is taking the Irish State to court to block the deportation of her four-year-old son.

The High Court has granted her permission to launch a challenge in the New Year against a decision that she can only remain in the state if she puts her child into a fee-paying rather than a state school.

Erin Britton, who is a second-year student in a master’s program in medieval studies at National University Ireland (NUI), Galway, was told last month by the Garda National Immigration Bureau that her permission to remain in Ireland would not be renewed because her son, Aidan, was enrolled in a non-fee paying school, Claddagh National School in Galway.

When she contacted the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, she was told again that she had no option but to put her child into a fee-paying private school if she wanted to stay. Otherwise, she was told, both she and Aidan would be deported.

In an affidavit to the High Court on Monday, 28-year-old Britton said it was discriminatory that she and her son faced deportation because she wants her child educated at a state-funded school.

The court heard that Aidan had been transferred to a private school while she launched her legal action, but this was not where his parents wanted him to be educated.

“I am truly appalled that having been admitted to my course of study through a highly competitive process, having been given permission to enter the State with my son to pursue these studies, that I should now be placed in the appalling position of having to sacrifice my own studies or my son’s education,” she said.

She claimed she could not transfer her course to the U.S. as her subject is based in the rough limestone country of the Burren in Co. Clare.

“Because of the nature of my thesis, since it is archaeological/historical, it involves frequent trips to the site of excavation. I must remain in Galway for the duration of the spring semester at the very least,” Britton said.

She said it was “absurd” that her studies were being placed in jeopardy when there were no feasible private schools in the area.

Her husband, James, was studying in Galway until a few months ago when he moved back to the U.S. to complete his masters in international affairs in St Louis, Missouri.

Under current Irish immigration laws, international students cannot enroll their children in schools that receive public funding.

Claddagh school principal Brendan Forde said there were no private schools in the immediate area so Aidan could not attend a school, and that was a violation of his human rights.

Britton wants a declaration that her child is entitled to avail of free education under the 1998 Education Act, under the Constitution and under the European Convention on Human Rights Act, 2003.

Mr. Justice George Birmingham granted her leave to seek a judicial review and adjourned the case to next month.

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