The Gardaí and Army are today investigating several suspicious packages found in Dublin and other parts of the country in the wake of global fears over anthrax attacks.
The army bomb disposal is in attendance at Coolock Garda Station in Dublin after a suspect package was found there.
The package was handed in by a member of the public who became suspicious about its contents.
A suspicious package was found at the offices of the Irish Independentnewspaper on Abbey Street, Dublin at around 12.30 p.m. this afternoon.
Some meetings planned to take place in the Independent building today have been cancelled as a result of the scare.
An Army spokesman said that the operation there is completed and that a package is being taken to Cherry Orchard Hospital in west Dublin.
The hospital has a ‘Level 3’ testing facility which can analyse suspect packages for Anthrax.
Another unit of the Army and the Gardaí has been called to the Parliament Hotel in Lord Edward Street in Dublin’s city centre after a suspect package was found there.
St Andrew’s College in Booterstown was also evacuated this morning when an envelope containing white powder was found on the premises.
The Fire Brigade and Gardaí attended the scene.
A post office in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford was evacuated this morning following the discovery of a suspicious package there.
The package, found at 6.30 a.m., was leaking a white powder substance.
Gardaí investigated at that scene. Army personnel were called on to attend but were ‘stood down’ before arriving there as the situation was found to be a hoax.
The Army and Gardaí have also been called to investigate a suspect package in Tralee this afternoon and yesterday investigated a similar occurrence in Sligo.
A Garda spokesman said that they expected to get a lot of similar calls because of Anthrax fears around the world.
An Army spokesman said that because most of the calls were within Dublin and within normal working hours they were able to deal with all the calls.
