An anti-theft device at Weir and Sons jewellers on Dublin’s Grafton Street was responsible for an emergency response from three fire brigade crews and gardaí on Sunday.
Crowds of people gathered on the busy street as three fire engines arrived at the jewellery store, after smoke was seen coming from the ground-floor shutters of the building.
A Dublin Fire Brigade spokesman later said an “anti-theft device which emitted smoke” had gone off in the building.
He said the device was intended as a measure to frustrate burglars, but could not say if an attempted burglary had taken place.
A Garda spokesman said the incident was a false alarm. He said the “smoke alarm” had gone off in the premises, “but there was no fire or burglary”.
Fire engines were accompanied by a Garda car which blocked the Grafton Street/Wicklow Street junction and gardaí set up a cordon at the scene.