Hoax bomb threats empty RTÉ and other Irish media offices in Dublin, same email sent across Europe

A number of high-profile media organisations, including Ireland's public service broadcaster RTÉ, were evacuated on Friday morning because of bomb threats.

Staff at the Irish Independent newspaper and Dublin-based radio station NewstalkFM also left their offices for a short time after receiving threats by email. The Irish government has described the bomb warnings as hoax threats and said the authorities were working to establish who is responsible.

Security threats were also sent to several media outlets across Europe on Friday, including the UK broadcaster Sky. The threats disrupted some live programmes in Ireland, while other broadcasters managed to stay on air.

Armed gardaí (Irish police) were deployed to search RTÉ's headquarters in Donnybrook, Dublin, after senior staff reported the bomb threat to them.

RTÉ presenter Sarah McInerney was broadcasting at the time. She said an email had been sent to the RTÉ newsroom at 08:33 with the subject line 'Message to the West' and had threatened that a bomb was going to go off in the next 45 minutes. The newsroom contacted management, who contacted the gardaí, and after some discussion it was decided that even though it was probably a hoax, it was better to evacuate.

Virgin Media Ireland said it also received a security threat email that was widely circulated to multiple European media platforms. It said it followed its well established security protocols, continued to liaise with An Garda Síochána, remained on air throughout and no evacuation took place.

The Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Micheál Martin described the situation as worrying, adding his government's first priority was the safety of the Irish public. He said that yesterday, there appeared to be coordinated efforts to disrupt air travel.

He was referring to hoax bomb threats which affected 21 flights across Europe on Thursday, including Ryanair and Aer Lingus planes. Martin told RTÉ it was not yet known if the threats had come from individuals or if it was a coordinated attack. He said the gardaí, the defence forces, cyber and aviation authorities were working to establish who is behind this, as are their European counterparts.

He added that it illustrates how relatively simple it can be to cause disruption and to undermine the normal operation of society through unconventional activities designed to cause disruption, fear and anxiety.

Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) Simon Harris told Cork 96FM it was a very serious and evolving situation, coming on the back of a number of bomb scares yesterday and in recent days in relation to airlines as well. He said it was fair to say they do not yet know who is responsible for what is happening this morning, and that Irish authorities and cyber experts would be liaising as appropriate with European counterparts to identify the culprits.

RTÉ is keeping Radio 1 on air by broadcasting from the vehicle near its headquarters.

Sky confirmed it had received a security threat, hours after RTÉ had evacuated its building. The broadcaster, owned by Comcast, said in a statement read by a presenter on its news channel that it had carried out a security assessment and reported the matter to the relevant authorities, that the safety and security of colleagues is its primary concern, and that it is working closely with authorities.

Returning to her microphone at NewstalkFM, presenter Claire Byrne told listeners the threat her station received had been judged to be fake. She said they had been in touch with the gardaí, everybody left, and they were advised they could return to the building and that the warning was a hoax. On the social media platform X, NewstalkFM said Bauer Media offices were evacuated this morning after receiving a hoax bomb threat, that everyone is safe and they are back on air as normal.

In a statement, gardaí said they were aware of a threat made against media organisations here and in Europe. They added they were liaising with the affected Irish media organisations and the threats would be investigated.