TD Pat Breen: Ibrahim Halawa in reasonable spirits

Teenager Ibrahim Halawa is in “reasonable spirits”, according to a TD who visited him in his Egyptian jail.

Pat Breen, chair of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee, met the Dubliner for 90 minutes in Cairo.

Mr Breen expressed concern that the 19-year-old has been held for over two years.

“I found him a young man in reasonable spirits in what are very trying circumstances. On behalf of the committee, I relayed our ongoing interest in his case and the concerns of his family in relation to his health and wellbeing and that I would bring these concerns to the relevant authorities.

“Ibrahim was appreciative of my presence and thanked the committee for its ongoing interest in his case. I expressed the committee’s continued support to him to ensure his speedy release.”

Mr Halawa was arrested at a mosque in Cairo after a demonstration in 2013.

The teenager is due to appear in court again in October, but his family have urged the Government to do more to try and secure his release.

Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan has insisted that the Government is doing all it can, but that it cannot interfere in the legal system of another country.