Gardaí evacuate Cork schools and Dublin primary after bomb threat emails

Gardaí evacuated several schools in Cork and a primary school in south‑west Dublin on Tuesday after receiving emailed bomb threats that warned of a device hidden in a plastic bag.

In Cork, a wave of emails was sent to numerous schools, including Star of the Sea Primary School in Passage West, which alerted parents that the building had been evacuated and inspected for a suspicious bag. Gardaí later confirmed the threats were hoaxes and pupils were allowed to return to class.

Schools in Cork city also received similar emails. In Dublin, St Michael’s National School in Ballyfermot was cleared and pupils and staff were moved to a safe assembly area. A significant Garda response, including uniformed gardaí and the Garda helicopter, was deployed, although the threat was deemed not credible.

The incidents follow a separate bomb threat to a Cork school on Monday, linked to a child, and a Ryanair flight scare the same day. Security sources say the current threats are part of a series of automated, AI‑generated emails targeting schools, media outlets and airlines across Europe, aiming to cause disruption.

Authorities stress that every report must be taken seriously, given the impact on resources and public safety, especially ahead of this week’s European Political Community summit and EU heads of state meeting in Dublin.

Source: Irish Examiner. Photo: Nguyen Tuan Anh / Pexels.