An Irish mother whose children were abducted by their father in Egypt says the pain she has experienced over the last two years has been “unthinkable”.

Mandy Kelly’s sons Zayn (5) and Kareem (3) were abducted by their father Ramy Gamal Maamoun Mohamed after the family travelled to Cairo for a holiday two years ago.

The Dundalk woman has said the boys were “forcibly taken” from her care and she made the decision to return home due to “concerns surrounding my safety”.

She has been fighting to get the boys back ever since and last week, a court in Cairo ruled that they should be returned to her.

The 37-year-old is the first Irish mother to launch a custody battle in a non-Hague compliant country – and the landmark ruling has left her ‘cautiously optimistic’ her children will soon be returned.

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, she said Egyptian police are now trying to find her husband and children in Cairo; however, he is moving from place to place to make it difficult for them.

She said the last few weeks have been “quite overwhelming”.

“I have had a really, really tough fight,” she said.

“I can't put into words what it's been like – having to grieve over your children who are still alive is just unthinkable.”

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

Mandy said she has the support of both the Egyptian and Irish authorities – as well as court rulings in both countries giving her custody over the children.

She said she is “cautiously optimistic” that her ordeal will soon come to an end.

“To be honest with you, these last 28 months have been, as a friend who actually works in the legal profession described it, ‘one step forward and ten back,’” she said.

“That's what it's been continuously like.

“Unfortunately, my ex-partner has decided to hold himself above the law, to be disrespectful to even Islamic clerics who I am incredibly grateful for, who really want to help me and my children, who have approached him and he has refused to acknowledge both the Irish court’s decision of the immediate return of my children and the Egyptian courts.”

Custody

She said Mr Mohamed has also “refused to acknowledge” an offer from the Egyptian Ministry of Justice that would have seen the boys returned home while preventing any “serious consequences” for himself.

She said she has also made him an offer that would have allowed him to return to Ireland with all charges against him dropped.

Diplomacy

Mandy thanked the Tánaiste Micheál Martin for his work on her behalf with authorities in Egypt.

She said the Egyptian authorities have also been “incredibly helpful” in her fight to bring her children home.

She said it is now up to Egyptian authorities to find her children as soon as possible and bring them home.

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