Gardaí are investigating bomb threats made to “hundreds” of schools and media organisations across Ireland on Wednesday, representing the latest in a string of scares assessed by police as “not credible”.
In an official statement released on Wednesday morning, An Garda Síochána confirmed that officers were responding to reports across the country, adding that the force was “not advising” any educational establishment to take emergency evacuation steps.
“An Garda Síochána assess this threat as not credible and is not advising any educational establishment to evacuate,” a Garda spokesperson said.
The Irish Independent reported that “hundreds” of schools have been affected by the malicious messages.
Educational institutions in Dublin and Cork are among those known to have received threats, with authorities examining whether facilities in other parts of the country were also targeted.
The Department of Education confirmed on Wednesday that it is engaging directly with school managements regarding the situation, while several media outlets also received threats during the morning.
The security alerts come ahead of two major European Union summits taking place in Dublin on Thursday and Friday this week.
Around 50 European leaders and heads of international organisations are visiting Dublin for the events, which are due to involve the largest security operation in the history of the Irish State.
The latest incidents follow a series of bomb threats called in against several airlines last week, which were subsequently followed by warnings sent to Irish and British media outlets.
Those emails were addressed to “the West” with a Russian name attached, though there is as of yet no direct evidence of Russian involvement.
In October, more than 160 schools in Northern Ireland received bomb threats referencing radical Islam and Sharia law, containing the phrase “allahuakbar”, though again, the culprit or culprits are, as of yet, unknown.