Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has been confined to his home after the country's army took control of government offices and the state broadcaster.
It follows a power struggle over who might replace him.
His vice-president was fired last week, making Mr Mugabe's wife Grace the president's likely successor.
The military denies staging a coup but opposition leader Tendai Biti says that is simply not true.
"This is a coup - there's no question about that.
"So we condemn the extra legal extraction of power from an elected civilian authority.
"But having said that, we must acknowledge the deep, structural underlying causes that would have led the army to do what they're doing now".
The Irish embassy in Pretoria is monitoring events in Zimbabwe.
It has advised Irish citizens to remain indoors and to avoid areas where demonstrations may be taking place.
It has also set up emergency numbers for Irish citizens to call:
Please note the phone lines at the Embassy are currently down -in case of emergency please contact +27792565946 or +27824599863.
— IrishEmbassyPretoria (@IrlEmbPretoria) November 15, 2017
