Enda Kenny under fire as Irish teen starts jail hunger strike

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has come under opposition fire for not doing enough to help free Irish teenager Ibrahim Halawa from an Egyptian jail where he has now started a hunger strike.

Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald accused Mr Kenny of having a “tepid” interest in the two- year plight of Mr Halawa, 19, as she demanded that Mr Kenny personally intervene.

“The Taoiseach should lift the phone today to contact the Egyptian prime minister and state categorically that we demand the release of our citizen and Dublin man Ibrahim Halawa,” Ms McDonald told TDs.

She said intervention by the Australian prime minister secured the release of a journalist from that country.

Mr Halawa was arrested in a mosque along with three of his sisters during the Arab Spring uprising. While his sisters were released, he has remained in prison ever since awaiting trial.

Ms McDonald said the family “are not convinced” the Government is doing all it can to secure a release.

Mr Halawa’s trial has been delayed four times, and he has now started a hunger strike ahead of his next expected court appearance in August because he “can’t handle” the situation, his family said.

Mr Kenny said it was a very sensitive situation, and that Irish officials had visited the man 40 times in jail. “His mother has been out there for the past two years and while she is able to visit on a regular basis she is still separated from him. We are very conscious of this, but I’m also conscious, I have to say that whether I like it or whether I don’t, it is the legal system of Egypt that applies here and I have to be very careful not to say anything or do anything that would make the situation worse.

Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan said the case was very different from the Australian one as he warned that the tone of the opposition demands could actually work against the teenager.