An Irish mother has said she is “living a nightmare” after her two children were abducted by their father in Egypt two years ago.

Mandy Kelly is calling on the Government to take action and use its diplomatic powers to bring Zayn, aged five, and Kareem, aged three, back home.

The Dundalk woman had been travelling with the kids and her husband, Ramy Gamal Maamoun Mohamed, to visit their grandmother in Egypt when the abduction happened.

“The day we were supposed to travel back to Ireland on the 11th of March, my husband told me point blank that he was not coming back,” she said.

“Worse still, I was not allowed to travel back with our two sons.

“Unfortunately, my two beautiful sons remain stranded there.”

An aerial view of Cairo in Egypt. Image: robertharding / Alamy Stock Photo

Mandy has tried everything to get her children back and has secured a High Court order against her husband, while European and domestic warrants have been issued for his arrest.

She has also met with Justice Minister Helen McEntee, Children’s Ombudsman Dr Niall Muldoon, Egyptian officials, and senior Muslim leaders in Ireland to try and bring about the safe return of her abducted children.

'Absolutely horrific'

Mandy is now calling on the Irish Government to step up.

“The last two years have been absolutely horrific,” she said.

“I have utilised all the channels that have been open to me so it’s time now for Irish Government intervention, immediate intervention.

“They need to understand what harm they have inflicted on my children by leaving them in a foreign land after they were abducted, by not intervening, by telling me the Egyptian courts will protect my children,” she said.

“They blatantly know the Egyptian courts do not uphold the best interests of the child."

Mandy Kelly in studio with Kieran Cuddihy today. Image: Newstalk

The Dundalk mother said her husband is holding the children to ransom.

“The Government knows that my ex-partner had demanded a ransom of €500k,” she said.

“For the High Court, he even got the statement notarised by a solicitor in Egypt.

“They know this is not a ‘love-tug’ case - my children are hostages in a foreign land.”

'My children are calling to be back'

Mandy hasn’t even seen a picture of her children in the last two years.

“There is definitely a spirit that’s guiding me through this because I just know my children need to be back in Ireland,” she said.

“I can almost feel it in my blood and in my heart that my children are calling to be back in Ireland; I know they need me and that’s why I keep so strong.

“I keep strong for them, and I keep strong for other parents that, God forbid, have to go through this in the future.”

The Dundalk mother asserted she will “not give up until her children are back” in Ireland.

Main image: Mandy Kelly and her sons Zayn and Kareem. Image: Supplied.