Irish media offices evacuated amid possible link to airline bomb threats

Irish media offices in Dublin were evacuated after bomb threats were received by email, with one presenter noting the threat had been deemed a hoax by a radio station involved in the incidents.

Newstalk, which is part of the affected outlets, resumed programming from an outside broadcasting unit around 1000 GMT after staff were allowed back in. The Irish Independent reported its own offices in the capital were evacuated as a precaution.

RTE reported that an email threat arrived shortly before 0900 GMT claiming a bomb would detonate within 45 minutes. A presenter on RTE Radio One indicated the email appeared to come from the same group linked to hoax bomb threats that disrupted dozens of European passenger flights the previous day.

RTE’s south Dublin campus remained closed while police conducted a building-by-building search. The disruption affected news programming, which experienced an interruption of more than an hour before returning to air.

Prime Minister Micheál Martin condemned the disruption, telling RTE that the threat demonstrated how easily society can be disrupted by unconventional actions designed to incite fear, while urging calm and focus. The authorities continued a precautionary response as investigations proceeded.