About a dozen protesters staged a sit-in in the European Parliament office in Dublin on Thursday afternoon in solidarity with Greece.

The protesters gave in to pressure from gardaí to move from the office in Molesworth Street, more than an hour after they began the sit-in.

The protesters emerged from the office waving flags and chanting “Athens Athens we’re with you, we’re against the troika too”.

Activist Gerry Kennerk from north Dublin said that the group came out to show their support because he believes the Irish Government has turned its back on Greece ahead of the country’s deadline to repay the International Monetary Fund next Tuesday.

“We don’t want Greece to be crushed into the dust and the IMF are trying to do that now,” Mr Kennerk said.

“Greece have to be given room to grow their economy; it has to be sorted because the European project cannot go on with the situation as it is in Greece.”

One of the protesters Dominic Byrne said he believed the problem with Greece lies within “the euro zone’s defective financial architecture”.

“The problems remain to be addressed,” he said. “I think the only thing we can do is show our support and hope for the best.”