A number of Co Clare schools closed today, Tuesday, February 11, after a threat was emailed to them overnight.

A spokesperson for An Garda Síochána told IrishCentral on Tuesday that it is "aware of a communication that has been sent to a number of educational establishments in Co Clare today."

The spokesperson said that following an initial assessment, Gardaí "are satisfied that the security threat is not credible and there is no ongoing risk to the public."

The spokesperson continued: "Gardaí are engaging with the affected educational establishments with regard to this incident.

"Enquiries are ongoing. No further information is available at this time.

The Clare Champion reported earlier on Tuesday that schools in Ennis, Shannon, Sixmilebridge, Clarecastle, and Crusheen were closed due to the threat.

The publication later reported that the person who sent the threatening email last night claimed to be from Sixmilebridge.

According to the Clare Champion, the emailed threat said: "Tomorrow I am going to be carrying out one of the most prolific attacks in Irish history.

"I will be armed with multiple firearms, I have placed items around every school that has been included in this email, I will be targeting each and every school and I will be successful in my plan."

Sinn Féin TD Donna McGettigan, who is based in Shannon, told the Irish Examiner on Tuesday: “I had a lot of parents on to me this morning, very frantic and anxious, in fear for what was going on. 

“Some of the pupils weren’t in the schools at the time, fortunately.

“The schools were very, very reactive on this, and very promptly sent out messages to parents not to send children to school.” 

McGettigan noted that similar hoax incidents have occurred recently in New Jersey and Greece.

She said a number of the schools that closed out of precaution reopened later on Tuesday.

“Some of the secondary schools are doing induction days which are important days for sixth class students. Some reopened at 11, some opened at 12," she said.

“As far as I am aware, I haven’t heard of any that have remained closed. I’d like to thank the schools and the local gardaí for being very reactive on this.”