Local Fianna Fáil Senator Erin McGreehan has called for “all possible” diplomatic measures to be explored to bring home the abducted children of Dundalk mother, Mandy Kelly.

Kelly’s two sons, five year-old Zayn Mohamed and his three year-old brother Kareem, are in Egypt, where they are being held by their father, Kelly’s now estranged husband, Ramy Gamal Maamoun Mohamed, since the family went on holiday to Cairo in March 2022.

Mohamed told Kelly the day before they were due to return home that he was keeping the children in Egypt and that was the last she saw of them.

Senator McGreehan said: “I want to raise an issue concerning Mandy Kelly, a Dundalk-based mammy whose children Zayn and Kareem were abducted two years ago by her Egyptian husband while on holiday. 

“These boys are Irish citizens. They are being held against their mother’s will and against the judgment of the Irish courts. We are currently at a standstill. I cannot even imagine the torture this woman is going through. She has not even seen photographs of her young boys, who are growing up without her.

“I want to highlight this case today, but also to highlight that we need the Government to intervene and put pressure on the Egyptian ambassador and the Egyptian authorities to release those Irish citizens and bring them home. 

“We have a history of diplomacy and working to get Irish citizens back home to this country, and it should be no different in the case of two abducted young boys who are growing up without their mammy.”

Senator McGreehan concluded by calling for the Minister for Justice to meet with Mandy Kelly. She said: “I would love if the Minister, Deputy McEntee, could meet with this mother and discuss the possibility of securing an international arrest warrant and getting those children home safely.”

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