Hoax Bomb Threats Evacuate RTÉ, Irish Independent and Newstalk in Dublin as Campaign Reaches Newsrooms

Since hoax bomb threats first hit passenger flights on Tuesday, Nov. 3, the emails have changed targets. On Friday, Nov. 6, they landed in newsrooms.

RTÉ, Ireland's public broadcaster, evacuated presenters and staff from its campus in Donnybrook, Dublin. Staff at the Irish Independent and the radio station Newstalk also left their offices for a short time. Staff at Today FM were reportedly evacuated as well.

The RTÉ email

RTÉ presenter Sarah McInerney was on air when it happened. She said an email reached the newsroom at 08:33 with the subject line "Message to the West." It threatened that a bomb would go off within 45 minutes.

The newsroom alerted management, management called the gardaí, and the decision was to evacuate. "It was probably a hoax," McInerney said, "it was better to evacuate." Armed gardaí searched the building.

Some live programming was disrupted. Other broadcasters stayed on air. Virgin Media Ireland said it received the same email, "widely circulated to multiple European media platforms," followed its security protocols and did not evacuate.

The threats were not confined to Ireland. The UK broadcaster Sky was also targeted, according to the BBC. The gardaí said they are aware of a threat made against media organisations "here and in Europe" and that the threats "will be investigated."

The Irish government has called the warnings hoaxes and said authorities are working to establish who is responsible.

Airports still being hit

The flight disruption did not stop. Copenhagen police said Friday they were "once again at Copenhagen Airport today in connection with threats directed at air traffic" and found no immediate danger to passengers. Czech police said planes departing from and landing in Prague were threatened again.

Thursday's wave was larger than Friday's reported incidents. Tallies of flights affected that day range from 14 to 27 depending on the count. The Irish government put it at 21. Fighter jets from Italy, France and Bulgaria escorted several planes. No explosives were found on any aircraft.

In France, prosecutor Remi Coutin said the pilot of an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome allegedly refused to land at the Évreux military base and preferred a civilian airport. The prime minister's office said Sébastien Lecornu ordered fighters to intercept and escort the plane. A French prosecutor has opened an investigation into whether the pilot refused to land.

Coordinated or not

Martin first said it was not yet known whether the threats came from individuals or a "coordinated attack." He later described the incidents as likely part of a "coordinated campaign of disruption" alongside the airline hoaxes, while saying it was not clear who was behind them. He said the gardaí, defence forces, and cyber and aviation authorities are working with European counterparts.

Tánaiste Simon Harris called it a "very serious and evolving situation" and said, "we don't yet know who is responsible."

Brussels is more cautious. EU Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas said it was "too early to draw conclusions on whether the reported incidents are linked."

Two emails sent Thursday to Rome and Sofia airports were signed by "fighters of the Male State." AFP, which viewed them, said the messages railed against a "feminist regime." A far-right movement of that name exists in Russia. Lou Osborn, founder of the monitoring group Inpact, told AFP it uses Nazi symbolism, was designated extremist by Russian courts in 2021 and then backed the invasion of Ukraine. "Today we don't know to what extent they are connected to those in power," Osborn said.

AFP could not confirm any link between that group and the messages. An airport official told the Associated Press that another European airport received a threat from a group calling itself anti-feminist, using some of the same language. It was unclear if the same sender wrote both. Neither official was authorized to speak publicly. No source has tied the RTÉ email, with its "Message to the West" subject line, to the Male State messages.

Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, a senior fellow at the Brussels think tank Bruegel, said the threats appear to be "stress-testing" how European governments and airports respond and whether those responses are coordinated. The aim, he said, "appears to be to sow chaos, uncertainty, about the reliability of air traffic across Europe."

European officials have blamed Russia and Iran for hybrid attacks and sabotage. Both Moscow and Tehran deny it. No official has publicly assigned responsibility for this week's hoaxes to either country.

Cost and timing

Philip Baum, a visiting professor of aviation security at Coventry University, estimated each flight disruption can cost an airline up to $250,000 through crew hours, replacement crews and missed connections. Military escorts add costs that fall on governments.

Martin said the episode shows "how relatively simple it can be to cause disruption and to undermine the normal operation of society."

The timing is awkward for Dublin. Ireland is due to host a European Political Community meeting in about a week. Irish MEP Barry Andrews said the summit will discuss Europe's security after Russia's full invasion of Ukraine. He wrote that "disruption, confusion, distrust is the aim behind such hybrid attacks."

No arrests or claims of responsibility for the newsroom threats have been reported. The gardaí have said the threats will be investigated, and the French inquiry into the Aer Lingus pilot is open.