KUNLE Elukanlo, the Nigerian student deported and then returned to Ireland in 2005 to sit his leaving cert, has been granted status to remain in Ireland permanently.

Speaking to the Sunday Tribune last week, he said he was happy his three-year legal battle to stay in Ireland had finally come to a close. "My status has come through in the last few weeks, it's been a long time coming. I just want to keep my head down now and get on with my life."

A Department of Justice source confirmed Kunle has been granted status here and said his case would be reviewed in three years. If Kunle does not come to the attention of gardaí, he will be able to stay here for the rest of his life.

Kunle has been working at SuperValu in Palmerstown for the past three years. He lives in Palmerstown with his girlfriend and their three-year-old son Adam in a home adjacent to his girlfriend's parents' house.

In March 2005, Kunle was deport­ed along with 35 other Nigerians on a flight from Dublin to Lagos. Following a campaign led by his Palmerstown schoolmates, then minister for justice Michael McDowell made an unprecedented U-turn and allowed Kunle return to Ireland to sit his leaving cert.

Upon his return, he was granted a six-month study visa. After leaving Palmerstown Community School, he signed up for an engineering course at Greenhills College in Walkinstown.

However, shortly after his return he became embroiled in controversy. In May 2005, he was arrested by gardaí when he was caught driving without insurance, tax or an NCT certificate.

He was later disqualified from driving for 12 months and fined €250 at Dun Laoghaire District Courtfor driving without insurance. It also emerged in court that he had a previous driving conviction in 2003 at Dundalk District Court for driving without a licence.

In his defence, Kunle said after he was deported, a friend took possession of the car that was registered in Kunle's name assuming he was gone for good. When he returned to Ireland, Kunle said he discovered his car was parked at a building site in Killiney with the keys inside so he felt he had to retrieve it immediately.

As a result of this, the justice minister rejected a plea for him to be permitted to stay in Ireland. Kunle received a letter from the Department of Justice in January 2006 stating one reason a deportation order was issued related to his guilty plea to charges of driving without insurance or tax since he returned to Ireland.

Kunle's legal team then sought to prevent his deportation on the grounds he is the father of an Irish citizen born to an Irish mother. It was also claimed deportation would infringe upon his constitutional rights and his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Kunle again became the centre of controversy in 2006 when it emerg­ed he was detained the year before at Dublin airport. He was taken into custody with another Nigerian who was caught trying to withdraw money from an airport bureau de change with a false passport.

He was released the next day and was not charged. Supporters of the Nigerian said he had not been involved in the attempted fraud and had been detained because he had not been carrying ID.

At this point, Kunle began to shy away from media attention because of the raft of negative publicity his actions had provoked. "I don't want to do lots of interviews again like a few years ago. Everything is going well for me and I'm happy," he said last week.