Manama , Bahrain ( CNN ) -- Bahraini pro-government medics and state media staffers `` bullied and intimidated '' an Irish delegation of health workers and politicians here to secure the release of more than a dozen Bahraini health workers , said former Irish Foreign Minister David Andrews . The incident occurred as the Irish delegation was completing a two-day fact-finding mission intended to determine the condition and secure the release of more than a dozen doctors and medical staff detained on anti-government charges . But the news conference began to fall apart when 10 to 15 pro-government doctors and reporters for the state-run media approached the Irish delegation demanding to question them about their visit . As the pro-government doctors and reporters circled the Irish health workers in the hotel lobby , officials decided to call off the news conference . `` That 's not the sort of treatment we received when we were here , '' Andrews told a reporter afterward . `` It 's most unfortunate that we were bullied and intimidated by him and his representatives . '' He accused the president of the Bahrain Medical Society , Dr. Nabeel al-Ansari , of provoking the incident . Al-Ansari , who received his medical degrees in the Ukraine and the University of Toronto in Canada , was reappointed chief of emergency medicine at Salmaniya Hospital recently in the wake of the unrest after being sacked from the same post in 2006 . Speaking to reporters , al-Ansari said that the delegation was one-sided , despite the fact that its members had met with Bahraini government officials during the visit . `` Did they meet Bahrain medical society ? ? '' he asked on his Twitter account . `` Noooo . '' `` We have not come to save Irish doctors , '' Damian McCormack , who led the delegation , told reporters . `` We came to Bahrain to help Bahrainis , '' said the professor of orthopedic surgery at Temple Street Children 's Hospital in Dublin . The delegation arrived on the Gulf island with a letter of support from the Irish foreign minister , Eamon Gilmore . They traveled here as part of an effort to determine the condition of the Bahraini health workers , many of whom had trained in Ireland . Since March , 47 Bahraini doctors , nurses , and paramedics have been charged and detained for supporting protesters during this year 's pro-reform demonstrations that have swept across Bahrain . Another , a doctor , left the country without having been detained . Fourteen of the health workers remained Thursday in custody . The others were released after their military trials , which began in June . Those released alleged that they had been tortured and forced to make false confessions . The government has responded that it is not involved in torture . An independent , fact-finding mission headed by international experts has been set up to look into the assertions , but it will not be operational until next week . Many of the Bahraini doctors are Shiite . Bahrain 's majority Shiite community has long complained of discrimination by the ruling Sunni elite . Bahraini protesters assert that the Sunni majority government discriminates against them in matters relating to their welfare spending , employment and the like . The Shiites make up about two-thirds of Bahrain 's population . The authorities here allege that Bahrain 's Shiites who participated in the pro-reform protests that began on February 14 have links to Shiites in Iran . The Bahraini Shiites deny that is the case . Last May , a report by Medecins Sans Frontieres , also referred to as Doctors Without Borders , said medical staff in Bahrain had been unfairly targeted by government forces and that wounded protesters were arrested when they arrived at hospitals for treatment . Twenty of the health workers face charges that include weapons possession , the occupation of a public building , and calling for the overthrow of the regime . Some medics are charged with carrying out unnecessary operations resulting in deaths of patients and denying treatment on sectarian bases . The remaining 28 face charges of spreading false news about those killed and wounded during the protests and gathering in groups illegally . The authorities here have detained more than 1,000 people since the crackdown began . Hundreds had been released quietly in recent days .
` ` We came to Ireland to help you , '' says the head of the Irish delegation . Many of the Bahraini aid workers had trained in Ireland . ` ` It 's most unfortunate that we were attacked and killed , '' says Irish ex - foreign minister .