Six Irish people to be tested after spy death
Six Irish people who stayed at a top London hotel the same time Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned are to be tested by radiology experts, it emerged tonight.
The Health Service Executive confirmed the men and women had been traced and would undergo examinations as a precaution.
They are among hundreds of guests and customers who were in the Millennium Mayfair Hotel and its bar on November 1 and are being offered tests to determine if they have been contaminated with radiation.
A HSE spokesman said they were acting on foot of advice from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
He said the HSE was working in conjunction with officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII).
It is understood tests will be carried out locally by experts at the RPII.
"The HSE would like to point out that there is no threat or danger to the public at large and that this contact tracing is purely precautionary and in line with good public health practice," the spokesman said.
Mr Litvinenko fell ill after meeting three Russian men at the hotel on November 1 and died in hospital just over three weeks later. He was buried on Friday in an air-tight coffin.
Traces of polonium-210 are reported to have been found in a fourth-floor room at the hotel, as well as on a cup from the hotel's Pine Bar.
All seven staff working at the bar on the day of Mr Litvinenko's visit have been contaminated with polonium-210.
Two police officers working on the murder inquiry have also tested positive for polonium-210.
The Department of Foreign Affairs revealed yesterday it had been contacted by the British Foreign Office in relation to six Irish people who had stayed at the hotel around the time of Mr Litvinenko's visit.
