New wave of bomb threats targets Irish media and EU flights

Bomb threats on Friday forced the evacuation of Irish newsrooms, including national broadcaster RTÉ, as airlines and airports across Europe faced fresh disruption following a wave of hoaxes earlier in the week.

RTÉ and Newstalk briefly went off air, with RTÉ resuming radio broadcasts from a mobile unit outside its headquarters amid heavy police presence. The threats came a week before Ireland hosts 50 European leaders, including Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for two summits.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said it was unclear whether the threats were the work of individuals or a co-ordinated attack, but vowed to “identify who’s responsible and to hold them accountable”. He said he was confident Ireland could secure the summits, which will involve the largest security operation in the country’s history.

Ireland was among countries affected earlier in the week by attacks on fridge and freezers in supermarkets and bomb threats emailed to dozens of passenger flights across Europe.

Several airlines and airports received fresh threats on Friday, adding to multiplying hoaxes that grounded aircraft this week across the region, in what security experts have called a campaign of “intimidation” intended to disrupt air travel.

France said it received four more bomb threats on Friday, adding that the targeted planes had landed safely.

A Wizz Air flight from Prague to Rome performed a U-turn and landed in Venice after receiving a bomb threat. Other Wizz Air flights also received threats, but none had to divert, the company added.

Czech police said they received a “threat to place an improvised explosive device on board a number of aircraft arriving at and departing” from Prague airport.

Police in Copenhagen said they were attending a threat at the airport, though operations were continuing as normal.

In Ireland, RTÉ presenter Sarah McInerney read parts of the threatening email, which claimed there was a bomb in the building and that it had been sent by the same author as Thursday’s wave of threats against airlines.

Another senior RTÉ figure said the email was understood to have been sent to 18 media organisations. The broadcaster also has daycare facilities on site for the employees’ children.

As well as broadcasters RTÉ and Newstalk, Mediahuis, the publisher of the Irish Independent newspaper, was targeted.

“It not a coincidence, in my mind, that this occurs days before Ireland hosts a major summit, hosting over 50 leaders,” said Barry Andrews, an Irish member of the European parliament.

“The summit will discuss the security of Europe following the full Russian invasion of Ukraine. Disruption, confusion, distrust are the aims behind such hybrid attacks.”