Bomb threats continue in Ireland - what is happening?

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

The Hard Shoulder, with Ciara Kelly and Shane Colman, on Newstalk, with Kiya.

Shane Colman (0:08)

Now, the story actually broke on air this morning when Claire was interviewing the Minister for Public Expenditure, Jack Chambers, hundreds of children in Ireland and in Europe receiving hoax bomb threats at their school, hundreds of schools, I should say, not children, hundreds of schools receiving hoax bomb threats via email this morning. The advice has been not to evacuate. Henry McKean met concerned parents and students in schools in Cork, where some schools did get those bomb threats.

SPEAKER_3 (0:41)

Like I come from a time you had to have a code.

You couldn't ring. Do you know, I'm talking about the early 80s, they are now, I was-

Henry McKean (0:48)

During the troubles, the had to go.

SPEAKER_3 (0:51)

And you did. You needed a code and you needed a contact. And then it was taken serious.

But it's a bit of a joke at this stage now that they can stop everything, you know.

Henry McKean (1:03)

What sort of time are we living in right now? Schools across, not just Ireland, the North and Europe are receiving bomb threats, bomb scares, bomb hoaxes.

SPEAKER_5 (1:14)

Yeah, it's crazy, really. And I suppose our children are the core of our society. And you wouldn't expect anybody to threaten them in any way whatsoever and put that worry on parents, but also put the worry on kids and teachers and people going about their normal everyday business.

It's not OK, really. Sure, it's not.

Henry McKean (1:31)

And Cork schools, Cork principals this morning weren't sure how to react. The advice is to carry on. It's a hoax. But unnerving for many.

SPEAKER_5 (1:39)

Of course it's unnerving. And how do you carry on? Because if there's even a 1% chance that that's real, I mean, you can't just sit there in the school and carry on your normal business. You're going to have to take the kids out in the yard, you're going to have to get some clarity from the authorities or whatever, that it's a hoax, like, but it's awful.

Henry McKean (1:55)

It's scary for the children inside the schools.

Darren O'Rourke (1:57)

It's a place where you want to go to get your education. And if you're getting bomb threats, it's just not great.

Henry McKean (2:04)

How do you feel about bomb hoaxes targeting schools?

SPEAKER_7 (2:07)

I suppose like maybe they're just like an easy target. Yeah, I think a parent could hear like, oh my god, my child has a bomb threat. Like you send your child into like a safe environment.

Darren O'Rourke (2:17)

You want them to be safe while you're working as well.

Henry McKean (2:19)

A lot of parents will be working.

SPEAKER_7 (2:20)

So now you're missing school and work as well, because the parents will be running safe to bring their children home. Like you're not going to leave your child in school.

Shane Colman (2:28)

Okay, that was parents talking, parents and students in Cork talking to Henry McKean a little bit earlier. We're joined by Sinn Féin TD from MedEast and the party spokesperson on education and youth, Darren O'Rourke. Darren, what have you been hearing from across the country today?

Darren O'Rourke (2:44)

Yeah, exactly that. Shane, as you've heard, they are hoax bomb threats to hundreds of schools across the state, but not just across the state, across the island and more across Europe. I've been speaking to parents, to school leaders, to principals, to management bodies. I think, incredibly really, there is some experience of this now.

We had similar, maybe not to the same extent, a month ago. We had something similar a number of months ago in parts of the country. So where I was hearing before a frustration, maybe with the department or with the guard of response today, I didn't hear that. I heard that there was quite a rapid response, that it was early this morning, that schools were receiving these emails, that they contacted the, that they're encouraged to ring 999, and that within the hour, there was a clear guidance from from Ungarashi Ikona and similar response from the Department of Education, that it wasn't a credible threat. But it's really, really frustrating and concerning for whole school communities. They think of teachers and staff, but also, of course, of our children going to school on a daily basis.

Shane Colman (4:10)

Was that the right course of action, do you think, from the department from Ungarashi Ikona?

Darren O'Rourke (4:17)

I think what we need in these cases is a very rapid assessment of whether this is credible or not credible threat. I think today, the generic nature of it, the fact that it wasn't specific to individual schools or there weren't additional details, the fact that it was so widespread lent itself to Ungarashi Ikona being able to respond. I think there was some commentary in recent days in terms of the type of response from media outlets last week. And unfortunately, the situation is that this is an increasing reality that we're having to deal with. And my expectation is that it's not going to go away with the emergence of AI and hybrid threats. So there is a responsibility on all authorities and agencies, and I suppose principally the government, to ensure that there is protocols in place and that agencies and workers are aware of how to respond.