Sligo based Nigerian woman Pamela Izevbekhai has begun what could be her final legal challenge in the Irish courts against her deportation.
Ms Izevbekhai claims her two daughters, aged seven and five, will be subjected to forced female genital mutilation if they return to Nigeria.
Today she began High Court proceedings challenging the decision of the Minister for Justice not to consider her for subsidiary protection. This is an order under which the Minister has discretion to allow someone to remain in the country after they are refused refugee status if they face the risk of harm in their country of origin.
Her lawyers told the court that additional information from an Irish doctor was not before the Minister for Justice when the deportation orders were signed in 2005.
Senior Counsel Mel Christle said an Irish doctor with experience in Nigeria had made a sworn statement that she believed Ms Izevbekhai's daughters would not be safe from FGM if returned to Nigeria.
The doctor said she believed there would be no protection from the state against FGM as the police force there was under resourced and corruption and bribery was rife.
He also pointed to statements from Amnesty International stating that the State of Nigeria could not protect young girls from such practices.
Mr Christle said these statements, from a medical professional and Amnesty International, should have been considered as new information when an application was made for subsidiary protection as they irrefutably corroborated the contention that the threat of forced FGM was a real one.
The Minister had refused to consider the application on the basis that there was no new information since the original application for refugee status was made.
Opposing the challenge Eoin McCullough SC, for the Minister, said Ms Izevbekhai had no substantial grounds for her judicial review.
It was their case that no new material had been advanced, and the Minister had not acted irrationally.
Counsel said her claims had already been objectively examined and rejected by the Refugee Appeals Commissioner, the Refugee Appeals Tribunal and High Court.
Ms Izevbekhai's case has attracted support from a number of rights organisations, including Amnesty International and politicians.
Her case has also been referred to the European Court of Human Rights.
Pamela Izevbekhai's first born child died as a result of female genital mutilation in Nigeria in 1994.
She came to Ireland in 2005 but after a long running legal battle has been refused permission to stay here.
The State claims her fear of FGM is unfounded and says she could be relocated in Nigeria to protect her children.
The case, before Mr Justice McGovern, is expected to last two days.
