Bomb Threat Email Sent to 160 Northern Ireland Schools, Police Say Threat Not Viable

Police in Northern Ireland are investigating a threatening email sent to 160 schools on Monday morning, October 19, 2026. The Police Service of Northern Ireland, the PSNI, said it had received reports of an email sent to a number of schools across Northern Ireland and was conducting urgent enquiries while liaising with the schools in question. The force said an update would be provided in due course.

Stormont education minister Paul Givan confirmed to reporters that 160 schools had received the threat. He said the message appeared to come from Islamists, threatened that Sharia law would be brought into the country, said viable devices were inside school settings, and was signed off with the words Allahu Akbar. Givan said the advice to schools was that the threat was not being treated as viable, but he said it had clearly caused huge alarm. He condemned the disruption to young people's education.

Some schools evacuated pupils or closed for the day. Parents of children at St Colman's Primary School in Lambeg, County Antrim, were asked to collect their children just after 9 a.m. Pupils at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution were evacuated and kept outside until staff received police confirmation that it was safe to go back in, Belfast Live reported. Harpur's Hill Primary School and Rosstulla Special School also told parents that children should be collected. Other schools stayed open after taking advice.

The Education Authority said it was aware that a number of schools had received a threatening email this morning and recognised the concern it would cause for school leaders, staff, pupils and families. It said it was engaging closely with the PSNI, would act on police advice, and was supporting school leaders. The police and the Education Authority held emergency meetings during the morning. Givan said schools had been advised to stay in contact with their local policing district command, and that unless a school had a specifically identified object on its grounds, the threat on its own should not require further action such as closing.

Independent MLA Claire Sugden urged parents to stay calm, follow instructions from their child's school on collection, and wait for police enquiries to provide reassurance. She said no family should have to face this kind of worry on a school morning.

Police in Scotland are dealing with a similar case. Police Scotland said it was aware of threatening messages sent to a number of schools across Scotland, that those messages were being treated as a hoax, and that officers were investigating. Police have not said whether the Northern Ireland email and the Scotland messages are linked.