Department of Foreign Affairs defends handling of Halawa case

The Department of Foreign Affairs has defended the work it did for Ibrahim Halawa after it took four years for the Dublin man to be released from prison in Egypt.

Halawa’s case received “priority attention”, according to Pat Bourne, director of consular services at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

“Ibrahim was a child, just 17, when he was detained; he was far from home and caught up in a mass trial. ...