Ireland detects explosive device near leaders' dinner venue

The Irish police seized an improvised explosive device on the 13th and found it near the venue where leaders of many countries held a dinner party the day before. Military bomb disposal experts were dispatched and successfully disposed of the "roughly made but capable of detonating" explosive device.

The Irish police said in a statement that they received a report on the afternoon of the 13th that there was a suspicious device in an office building in Merrion Square in the center of Dublin, the capital. Military bomb disposal experts immediately rushed to the scene and safely disposed of the explosive device.

The statement said that the investigation was still ongoing, but did not disclose further details such as the time when the explosive device was planted.

It is worth noting that just one day before the incident, on the 12th, leaders of many countries who were attending the 9th European Political Community Leaders’ Meeting in Dublin attended a dinner at the National Gallery of Ireland on the other side of Merrion Square. During the dinner, a security cordon was set up around the square and roads near the square were closed.

French President Macron, British Prime Minister Burnham, Canadian Prime Minister Carney and other leaders of many countries attended the dinner. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attended the meeting but did not attend the dinner, where he met with U.S. presidential envoy Witkov and Trump's son-in-law Kushner in a Dublin suburb.

The 9th European Political Community Leaders' Meeting and the EU Leaders' Informal Meeting were held on the 12th and 13th respectively in Dublin, the capital of Ireland, which holds the EU's rotating presidency. It is reported that the main venue, the Dublin Convention Center, is 1.5 kilometers away from the location where the explosive device was discovered.