Bomb scare link to BBC blast 'not ruled out'
The reasons for an overnight bomb scare at the Dublin headquarters of the Irish Republic’s RTE broadcasting network were still unclear, its director general Bob Collins said today.
But the possity of the early hours incident being related to the recent taxi bomb explosion at the BBC in London hd not been ruled out, he added.
The RTE premises in Dublin’s Donnybrook suburb were evacuated for a period and some radio programmes were disrupted before a suspect package, discovered at the foot of the main transmitting mast, was dealt with in a controlled blast by Irish Army experts.
The package was found to contain no explosives.
The scare happened just days after the BBC bombing, thought to have been carried out by Real IRA republican dissidents, and hours ahead of today’s Belfast talks on the Northern Ireland peace process involving Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern, as well as the main Ulster political parties.
The RTE incident followed a warning telephoned to the Samaritans organisation in Belfast.
A caller, giving a recognised codeword, believed to be used by Northern Ireland loyalist para-militaries, said two explosive devices had been planted at RTE’s studios in Dublin’s Donnybrook district.
One package was found in a search initiated after the Royal Ulster Constabulary contacted police counterparts in Dublin.
Mr Collins said: ‘‘We don’t know whether this was a serious incident, whether the call was genuine or a hoax, or somebody’s idea of bravado or humour, or a co-incidence.
‘‘Clearly our security people and the Gardai took the prudent precaution of evacuating staff and searching the premises.’’
Mr Collins said the caller to the Samaritans had used a codeword and purported to come from some kind of loyalist group.
‘‘Whether it was or not, at this time we simply do not know.’’
He said no reference had been made to the incident being a response to the attack on the BBC.
‘‘But clearly that was uppermost in the minds of people here - it was the first thing that struck me, and therefore there was an added seriousness and imperative to respond.
‘‘From time to time, there have been these calls and they have been dealt with in the normal course of events, with disrupting programming.
‘‘Because of the immediate circumstances, it was decided this should be taken more seriously.’’
