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RTÉ presenter David McCullagh speaking over the phone to Taoiseach Micheál Martin from the broadcaster's mobile 'roadcaster' after studios were evacuated. RTÉ
And we're back
‘Up yours’: David McCullagh issues his own threat to hoaxers on return to air
RTÉ has “resilience and continuity” procedures for when broadcasting is interrupted.
MAJOR RADIO STATIONS had to think on their feet today to keep the show on the road after a bomb threat forced them to evacuate studios.
RTÉ was off-air for over an hour before setting up shop in the Roadcaster – the mobile studio parked outside the broadcaster’s HQ.
The broadcaster had received a threatening email this morning, which they immediately told gardaí about. It was then decided that as a “precautionary measure”, all buildings across the RTÉ campus, including the crèche, would be evacuated.
Once gardaí assessed the situation on site, they started doing sweeps of the buildings which required specialist units.
RTÉ has “resilience and continuity” procedures for when broadcasting is interrupted.
Pre-prepared continuity announcements and music filled the space while staff worked to get back on air.
Upon returning to the mic in the Roadcaster, presenter David McCullagh said this of the people responsible for the threat:
“Presumably they might feel that they have achieved their aims as we’re sitting in the Roadcaster.
“But we’re on air. Up yours whoever you are.”
‘A scary moment’
RTÉ Radio 1 was simulcasting on RTÉ 2FM, so they both aired McCullagh’s show.
Marty Whelan, who had been evacuated from his Lyric FM studio along with the rest of the RTÉ staff this morning, made a surprise appearance as the first guest on the show.
“Time for my bed,” Whelan, said, tongue-in-cheek.
He shared that he had been forced to leave his jacket and keys in the studio building in Montrose as he was ushered out.
“It is a scary moment. In all the years I’ve been here, I’ve never come across this ever.”
Over in Marconi House, where Newstalk and Today FM are headquartered, Claire Byrne had to cut off her show mid-interview.
“I’m very sorry I’m going to have to interrupt you there because we have just been told that we have to go off-air right now,” she told her guest.
“We are going to explain why as soon as we can, but right now we’ll leave you just for the moment.”
The line went silent for a few minutes until it switched to a playback of ‘best of’ clips.
Returning to air about half an hour later, Byrne told listeners the interruption was “beyond our control”.
“Everybody left. We were advised that we could return to the building, and that that warning was a hoax. So apologies for the interruption. It was beyond our control.”
Virgin Media Television’s live recording of Ireland AM remained on air this morning and the broadcaster did not evacuate its south Dublin premises after receiving the same bomb threat by email.
In a statement to The Journal, Virgin Media Television said it had received “a security threat email that was widely circulated to multiple European media platforms”.
“We followed our well established security protocols and continue to liaise with An Garda Síochána,” the statement said.
“We remained on air throughout and no evacuation took place.”
More threats to come?
National Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretary Séamus Dooley commended McCullagh and RTÉ staff for their quick response to the threat.
There is a need for contingency plans for media outlets in the case of such events, Dooley said,“because we can expect this to happen again”.
Issues with Dooley’s phone line left the interview cut short. “As if we didn’t have enough problems,” McCullagh quipped.
In an internal missive sent to RTÉ staff, director general Kevin Bakhurst said bomb threats on RTÉ have been “quite rare to date”.
He said physical and cybersecurity protocols have been significantly enhanced in recent years, but they’re under constant review.
“This morning’s response demonstrated firstly the professionalism and preparedness of our staff across Audio, Video and Operations and our ability to respond quickly and effectively to a significant and unexpected disruption,” Bakhurst said.
“Our absolute priority throughout was ensuring that the safety of all of our people.”
He said incidents such as this one allow them to test their broadcasting continuity plan and change it to be better for future disruptions.
He thanked staff for their professionalism today.
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