Two Irish men who were detained by Greek officials after they were involved in a dispute on a ship which contained aid for Gaza have been released.

The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that aid workers David Callander and Ken O’Keefe were freed by Greek authorities over the weekend and allowed to leave the country.

It is understood the Irish men where charged with causing minor damage to the ship. The men were working as aid activists as part of the Road to Hope convoy which was transporting aid to Gaza.

A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said: “We have issued them with emergency travel documents and continue to provide consular assistance.”

The vessel the Strofades IV was diverted to Greece last Thursday after a serious dispute broke out between the ship's Greek captain and aid organizers soon after it left the Libyan port of Derna.

Irish filmmaker, Callander claimed that a group of up to 60 Greeks boarded the ship  when it docked at the Greek port of Piraeus and held the volunteers at gunpoint against their will.

Six other Irish nationals were left stranded when the Greek-owned vessel left the port. They were traveling with 55 aid workers that had passed through Libyan immigration and had been due to board the vessel.