Irish High Court overturns visa refusal for Gazan university student

The High Court has overturned a decision by the Minister for Justice to refuse a study visa to a 20-year-old Palestinian student from Gaza, the Irish Examiner and RTÉ both reported. Shaymaa Abudalu was awarded a fully funded scholarship to study engineering at University College Cork, but the Irish government rejected her visa application in July. According to RTÉ, the High Court ordered the Minister for Justice to reconsider the application and issue a new decision within ten days. [1][2]

The court found significant and demonstrable errors in the original refusal, the Irish Examiner reported. During a hearing held last week, legal representatives for Abudalu argued that the choice to deny the study visa was both unlawful and irrational, RTÉ said. The Irish Examiner noted that Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan faced the challenge as the lead case among several similar lawsuits brought by Palestinian students. [1][2]

The case comes amid a sharp increase in study visa rejections for Palestinians, as FTMQ News reported earlier. Ireland rejected 114 out of 138 Palestinian study visa applications in 2026, which equals a refusal rate of 83 percent. By comparison, Irish authorities turned down 22 out of 164 long-stay study visa applications from Palestine during 2025. [10]

Academics had previously called on the Taoiseach to step in after multiple Gazan students were refused entry despite securing university places and funding, as FTMQ News reported earlier. While three affected students remained trapped in Gaza, another had moved to Spain while awaiting a resolution to the visa disputes. [11]