Explosive Device Discovered Near Dublin Venue of European Leaders' Summit

Irish police reported on Friday that they discovered and defused an active explosive device in an office building on Merrion Square in central Dublin, located near a venue where European and international leaders dined just a night earlier. According to law enforcement, an Irish Army bomb disposal team was dispatched to the building following reports of a suspicious object and determined it was an improvised device that could have detonated.

Following the neutralization of the device, authorities launched an investigation to establish the circumstances of the incident, though no details regarding suspects or when the device was planted have been released. Merrion Square had hosted a high-level political gathering just a day prior, when the National Gallery of Ireland hosted a dinner for the European Political Community summit.

The dinner was attended by French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as a guest, amid what Irish police described as the largest security operation in the country's history.

Summit discussions continued on Friday with an informal meeting of EU leaders held about a half-kilometer away from the building where the device was found. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended the summit but missed the Merrion Square dinner due to a meeting on the outskirts of Dublin with US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff.