Protesters demand release of siblings outside Dublin embassy

Dozens of protesters have gathered at the Egyptian Embassy in Dublin demanding the immediate release of four Irish siblings detained by Egyptian authorities.

Sisters Omaima (20), Fatima (22), and Somaia (27), and their 17-year-old brother Ibrihim, were caught up in violence in Cairo and jailed in Tora prison.

Gardai are at the scene of the animated protest by an estimated 50 people outside the embassy on Clyde Road in Ballsbridge.

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Friends of the Halawa family gather at the Egyptian embassy in Dublin demanding the release of four Irish siblings detained by Egyptian authorities in Egypt. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Earlier, there was a brief confrontation between protesters and someone from the embassy building

Gardai at the scene declined to comment on reports of damage to the embassy or on whether some of the protesters had made their way into the embassy.

As the three young women and their teenage brother were due to attend a prosecutor’s office with Irish officials, their sister Nasaybi Halawa said she still has grave concerns for their safety.

“We are just wishing and hoping and praying that they will arrive back today or tomorrow,” said Ms Halawa, at the family home in Firhouse, south Dublin.

“We have been told that they are safe but that doesn’t mean they haven’t been harmed or beaten.”