Bomb threats also against Irish media

In Ireland, the offices of media groups including public broadcaster RTÉ have been temporarily evacuated following bomb threats.

The threats were classified as a false alarm, said presenter Claire Byrne from Newstalk radio station, which was also affected. Newstalk resumed broadcasting at 11 a.m. (CET). The Irish Independent newspaper publishing group reported that its offices in the capital had also been evacuated.

According to one of its radio reporters, the broadcaster RTÉ received an email shortly before 10 a.m. (CET) threatening a bomb to explode within 45 minutes. The reporter made the comments after the news program came back on air from an outside broadcast van. He said the RTÉ site in south Dublin remained closed while police searched it building by building.

“We take the threat seriously”

“It is worrying and we are taking the threat seriously,” said Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in a telephone interview with the broadcaster shortly after the end of RTÉ's more than hour-long program interruption.

The incident shows how comparatively easy it can be to undermine social life through such activities. “We have to stay calm and very focused on this,” Martin said.

Those responsible are unknown

Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris told Cork radio station 96FM that it was still unclear whether an individual perpetrator was behind the threats or whether it was a "coordinated action". The Irish security authorities and cyber experts are taking the situation “very seriously” and are in contact with the relevant European authorities.

Connection to threats against air traffic?

An RTÉ Radio One presenter said he understood the email was from the same people behind Thursday's false bomb threats. These disrupted dozens of passenger flights across Europe.

There were incidents again today. In Prague, security forces were concerned about bomb threats against passenger flights. The police said a large number of aircraft were affected. The necessary security measures have been taken. They would have “minimal impact” on the normal operations of the Czech capital’s international airport. The police later announced that the explosives checks had been negative.

Two flights to the Bulgarian capital Sofia from London and Brussels and a flight from Lisbon to Rome were also affected. Four flights made an unscheduled landing in France due to bomb threats. The French government said the machines would be checked.