Defence Minister ‘extremely concerned’ over bomb hoaxes ahead of EU meeting

The number of flights being searched because of potential bomb threats is “extremely concerning” in the week Ireland hosts its biggest ever meeting of heads of state, Defence Minister Helen McEntee has said.

At least 27 flights were confirmed to have been targeted with bomb threats on Thursday, including services from Dublin, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Madrid, Milan and Warsaw.

One Aer Lingus Airbus A320 left Dublin for Rome before being diverted to the Evreux air base in northern France where it landed safely, after receiving a bomb threat.

A spokesperson for Aer Lingus acknowledged French prosecutors want to speak to the pilot of the plane over instructions on where to land.

“Aer Lingus is aware of the matter and will of course co-operate fully with the French authorities. Clearly the safety of passengers is our priority at all times,” the spokesperson said.

Next Thursday, Ireland will host the ninth meeting of the European Political Community (EPC) at the Convention Centre in Dublin.

The showcase of the Irish presidency of the Council of the European Union will be the biggest meeting of heads of state in Ireland’s history, and is to be followed by a dinner hosted by the Taoiseach and more informal meetings on Friday.

Speaking at a parade of the final group of Irish soldiers to deploy to Unifil (the UN mission in Lebanon), the 69th Infantry Group, at Aiken Barracks in Dundalk, Ms McEntee said she is worried about how the bomb threats will impact the meetings.

“It’s extremely concerning, what we’ve seen happen in a very short space of time,” the Fine Gael TD said.

“Obviously these hoaxes are having a significant impact on travel more broadly. I would say in terms of our own security and the approach and the work that has been done to date, our Defence Forces have worked exceptionally well with An Garda Síochána in making sure that whatever measure has needed to be put in place for any event that we’ve held, that has been the case, and we have a hugely successful presidency to date.

“Naturally, next week we have 55 heads of state coming to Ireland. This is the largest event of its type that we’ve ever had, and so everything that needs to be done, and should be done, will be done, to ensure their security and safety throughout this, but look, I think we’re all concerned at these types of hoaxes, huge disruption.

“But importantly, we need to make sure that people are safe, and that would be to the fore of everything that we take.”

It comes amid a week of bomb threat hoaxes to airlines across Europe, including four Ryanair flights which were searched on Tuesday, two of which departed from Dublin Airport.

Ms McEntee said little is known about the person or persons carrying out what are, up to this point, all hoaxes.

“There’s a lot of work happening across the EU. The transport commissioner is working with our own ministers, our Transport Minister as well, to identify whether these are connected,” she said.

“So look, I’m not clear where some of these hoaxes have come from. My understanding is that some came through emails, and there have been various different sources. So there is work under way at the moment to see are they connected, but that’s not clear, and there’s nothing to suggest that at the moment.

“But obviously, our gardaí will be working with services across the EU to identify what is happening here. But importantly, it’s really important that whoever is responsible for this, or whatever amount of people are responsible for this, that they’re identified as soon as possible, because of the disruption this is causing and the fear.”