Egyptian protesters gather at Dublin embassy to support families at home

CHANTS IN Arabic of “we want to change regime” echoed through Dublin’s embassy belt yesterday as the Egyptian community gathered to support protesters back home.

Many of the 50 protesters at the Egyptian embassy on Clyde Road, Ballsbridge, were young emigrants worried about their families and hopeful for change.

Mohamed Said (30) feared for the safety of his family in Cairo, including his wife.

His brother and father were protesting on the city’s streets, where violence has broken out and a curfew has been imposed.

Mr Said said he was concerned as he had been unable to reach them. “My brother and father might lose their lives there. I don’t care any more, if this is the price to get a good life we will pay it.”

The telecoms worker spoke of the roots of the movement in social networking and said he was sorry that he was not in Egypt.

“The regime used to mock us as fancy guys using BlackBerries and iPhones when there were just few numbers going to the streets,” he said. “After we saw what happened in Tunisia, it was like a spark.”

PhD student Rami Ghorab said it was the first time he had seen something on this scale. He was there to support the people of Egypt and he was hoping they would “stand still” before the regime. He wanted change as people were living “without dignity and without rights”.

Ahmed Fawzy from Cairo said he had not been able to contact some of his family because of the communications cut-offs.

“What we need to do now is try and support our brothers in Egypt and try to send a message to the Egyptian regime.” He hoped the scale of the protests would mean “major change”.

Walid Elkhafer (36) arrived at the protest with his children. His main concern was the protesters being killed. “I am here to stop this,” he said.