A 20-year-old man was detained for questioning by garda∅ in Kilkenny last night in connection with a suspicious letter containing white powder. It was delivered to the administration wing of St Luke's Hospital in the city yesterday morning.
The arrest followed a day-long investigation by garda∅, who had earlier questioned a woman in her late 30s in connection with a suspicious package delivered to BC Enterprises in Freshford yesterday. A file has been sent to the DPP in connection with that incident.
Meanwhile a Garda spokeswoman said in Dublin last night that they were taking a plethora of reported similar instances throughout the country yesterday "absolutely seriously". She gave details of the Criminal Law Act 1977, the Post Office Act 1968, and the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, under which the guilty can be sentenced to 12 months, five years, and 10 years respectively.
In the case of anthrax alerts, garda∅ and local public-health authorities are contacted, as is the local fire brigade/ambulance service. And army personnel - usually the Bomb Disposal Unit - are called in to deal with the suspicious package, which is usually take away for analysis. Meanwhile, people who may have come in contact with the package are quarantined until they pass through decontamination spraying units.
At Trinity College, a suspicious envelope was received at the Secretary's Office yesterday morning. The office was sealed off and eight staff had to remain inside until they were decontaminated by the Fire Brigade. They were later taken to St James's Hospital as a precaution.
The army was called to a house in Drumcondra last night after a woman who had flown from Britain found white powder in her luggage.
Staff were later evacuated from the An Post sorting office in Clondalkin when workers discovered a "suspicious" package.
Six hundred workers were evacuated from the SCI Systems Inc plant in Fermoy Co Cork when a package containing white powder was discovered on the premises. Anglesea Street Garda station in Cork city also received a suspect package, which is to be tested for anthrax. However, garda∅ believe both incidents are hoaxes.
Seven staff with An Post in Galway were taken to hospital as a precautionary measure yesterday following an alert over a suspicious package at the central mailing office on the Tuam road.
Postal services in Limerick returned to normal yesterday afternoon following the precautionary closure of the sorting office on Dock Road for 10 hours.
It followed the discovery of a small bulky package on Wednesday evening, which, according to a spokesperson for An Post "had a powder substance leaking from it".
The building was again evacuated last night after staff found another suspicious package.
Anthrax alerts in Derry and Belfast yesterday were confirmed as hoaxes. An anthrax drama in the Monaghan village of Scotstown ended around 5.30 p.m. yesterday.
The alert began around noon when a package containing a white powder and addressed to a local family was discovered at the local sub post office. The North Eastern Health Board set up decontamination centres leading to the Garda station where the package had been brought, to monitor anyone who had come in contact with it. This included four garda∅, a sergeant, and one civilian, who were forced to stay in the barracks for most of the day until medical checks were carried out. yesterday evening.