Bomb threat emails force evacuations at Irish media ahead of Dublin EU summits

Evacuations in Dublin

Bomb threat emails reached several Irish news organisations on the morning of Friday, 6 November. Staff at the offices of the public broadcaster RTÉ, the Irish Independent, the radio stations Newstalk and Today FM and the television channel Virgin Media were evacuated. Police with dogs searched the RTÉ building in Donnybrook, Dublin, for more than three hours, and RTÉ replaced its programming with music and pre-recorded messages during the search. One email sent to RTÉ around 08:33 local time said a bomb would explode within 45 minutes, but the deadline passed without any blast. No explosives were found at any of the sites.

The threats and their claimed author

The emails were signed Mikhail Andropov, a name that shares its surname with Yuri Andropov, the former Soviet Communist Party leader. The coincidence could be meant to point toward Russia or, alternatively, to blame Moscow. The sender described himself as one of the leaders of the group behind bomb threats that disrupted dozens of flights in Europe this week. A further email sent to several Irish titles on Friday said a new wave of attacks was being prepared and threatened aircraft, cruise ships, metro stations and trains, according to the Financial Times and AGI. A group calling itself Stato Maschile denied to the BBC that it had sent an email received on Thursday by Aeroporti di Roma. An unnamed official told the Financial Times there were strong suspicions of Russian involvement, but no confirmation has been made.

Government response and the Dublin summits

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the threats were very serious, had caused fear, worry and disruption, and were probably the product of coordinated action. The government said in a statement that the threats appeared to be a coordinated campaign designed to cause disruption. Police said they are aware of the threats and are investigating them. Martin said it was premature to establish whether one person was behind all of them, and said police were preparing protocols for the events of the Irish EU presidency. Dublin hosts a European Political Community summit and an informal European Council on 12 and 13 November. The Political Community summit usually draws about fifty leaders, half from outside the EU, and British prime minister Andy Burnham and Canadian prime minister Mark Carney were expected, along with Western Balkan leaders and the prime ministers of Norway and Iceland. AGI reported that Martin was confident the summits could be secured, and that the planned operation would be the largest security effort in the country's history.

Flights and other broadcasters

Reports put the number of flights hit by bomb alerts on Thursday, 5 November, at between 18 and at least 20. On Friday, 11 flights to and from Prague and Sofia were alerted, and four aircraft over France landed safely before being searched. A Ryanair flight from Lisbon to Rome was also alerted, and that alert proved unfounded. No explosives were found on any of the flights checked. Sky News told AFP it had received a threat against its security, and the French broadcaster TF1 said it had received a false bomb alert. In Sofia, police went to the newsroom of Nova TV, which was briefly evacuated, although its broadcast was not interrupted. Sky said in a statement that it had carried out a security assessment and informed the competent authorities.

5 November (reports range from 18 to at least 20)18

6 November (Prague and Sofia flights)11

5 November (reports range from 18 to at least 20)

18 flights

6 November (Prague and Sofia flights)

11 flights

Data from the article text

European governments have regularly accused Russia, and sometimes Iran, of destabilising actions such as disinformation, sabotage and cyberattacks, but the origin of these threats is still unknown.