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Due to mass fuel protests at various ports, this has led to panic buying throughout the country as supplies can't be delivered. The fuel protests that have closed off roads have also led to huge jams throughout the country. When you add both together, you get chaos! Tralee, Cork, Killarney, Nenagh, Limerick, Dublin etc have all seen disruption on an epic scale. For example it took a JJ Kavanagh bus 3 hours to get from Naas to the Red Cow tram stop in Dublin! For the last few days, the bus between Limerick and Shannon Airport has been suspended at times, and all the Kavanagh services from the South up to Dublin Airport have had to avoid Dublin all together, running non stop from the Red Cow stop to the Airport, and even then there's been significant delays!
The Irish Governments answer is for everyone to use public transport (what public transport!) and worse still, to threaten the protestors with the Army would you believe! Wouldn't talking to the protestors, and a promise to dramatically improve public transport be better? It is rumoured that the government are to announce measures to tackle the issue tonight, we will see.
Travel across parts of the Republic of Ireland has been affected for the fourth day in a row as slow-moving convoys made up of vehicles, including tractors, have been blocking roads in protest against high fuel prices caused by the US and Israeli war against Iran.
The slow-moving convoy was on the road for more than four hours, but Hegarty said that instead of holding the protest during rush hour, it started at 19:00 local time to minimise disruption.
A huge number are actual blockades of motorway junctions and roads, O Connel Street in Dublin being one of them with 60 vehicles all parked up for the last couple of days.
The Irish Governments answer is for everyone to use public transport (what public transport!) and worse still, to threaten the protestors with the Army would you believe! Wouldn't talking to the protestors, and a promise to dramatically improve public transport be better? It is rumoured that the government are to announce measures to tackle the issue tonight, we will see.
The idea that these "protestors" could give a flying F about public transport is ludicrous, they have blockaded the two busiest public transport routes in the capital for 3 days now including both tram lines and the gang in Galway targetted the main city bus depot which has also been blocked.
They are in it for themselves as well as a number of the main agitators being well known far-right mouthpieces. No shortage of anti immigrant, anti vax type demands being bandied around alongside cheap diesel demands.
A bunch of scumbags that believe they can hold the entire country to ransom, one of them on the main news tonight "we'll close the country down". Fuel carrying ships are now being turned away at terminals, emergency services are warning of restricted services due to fuel shortages. In any other country, including the UK the riot squad would have been out to deal with them, haul away to jail and drag their (very expensive) farm equipment and trucks to an impound lot.
The idea that these "protestors" could give a flying F about public transport is ludicrous, they have blockaded the two busiest public transport routes in the capital for 3 days now including both tram lines and the gang in Galway targetted the main city bus depot which has also been blocked.
They are in it for themselves as well as a number of the main agitators being well known far-right mouthpieces. No shortage of anti immigrant, anti vax type demands being bandied around alongside cheap diesel demands.
A bunch of scumbags that believe they can hold the entire country to ransom, one of them on the main news tonight "we'll close the country down". Fuel carrying ships are now being turned away at terminals, emergency services are warning of restricted services due to fuel shortages. In any other country, including the UK the riot squad would have been out to deal with them, haul away to jail and drag their (very expensive) farm equipment and trucks to an impound lot.
The thing is though it's going to hit consumers really hard if prices don't drop, farming is by far the biggest industry in Ireland and the cost of fertiliser has sailed through the roof, never mind fuel, so in the end consumers will have to absorb the extra costs. I can't blame protestors for trying to force the useless government to do something to get prices down because if push comes to shove, farmers will simply give up and sell up. Large areas of land will become available for property development because farming won't be worth it. If the Irish Republic was to suddenly be asked to host the World Cup, it's government would soon find the money!
How is the Irish government going to get oil prices down? The idea that governments can solve problems that are outside their control is getting ridiculous. Maybe the government should suggest it's contingent of UN peace keepers in Lebanon go and sort out the Middle East conflict.
The thing is though it's going to hit consumers really hard if prices don't drop, farming is by far the biggest industry in Ireland and the cost of fertiliser has sailed through the roof, never mind fuel, so in the end consumers will have to absorb the extra costs. I can't blame protestors for trying to force the useless government to do something to get prices down because if push comes to shove, farmers will simply give up and sell up. Large areas of land will become available for property development because farming won't be worth it. If the Irish Republic was to suddenly be asked to host the World Cup, it's government would soon find the money!
The issue isn't the Government, it's a little war going on at the moment which is lifting prices due to scarcity. The protests should really be anti war if prices need to be brought down.
The protestors want the gov to subsidize a cap in diesel prices, has happened around Europe (most notably in France), not really useful in the long term
The protestors want the gov to subsidize a cap in diesel prices, has happened around Europe (most notably in France), not really useful in the long term
The issue isn't the Government, it's a little war going on at the moment which is lifting prices due to scarcity. The protests should really be anti war if prices need to be brought down.
The latest lie from the Irish Government is a good one, but everyone has had the sense to see through it. The Health Authorities in the Irish Republic, who are responsible for Ambulances, have said last night that fuel levels for Ambulances are being assessed due to the risk of them running out of fuel. Luckily for them, yesterday afternoon 5 truck loads of fuel were allowed out of a depot by protestors to be delivered for ambulances in Kerry to use lol. The thing is protestors will ensure emergency services have fuel no matter what the Irish Government say, they're not going to bring the country to that much of a halt!
Due to mass fuel protests at various ports, this has led to panic buying throughout the country as supplies can't be delivered. The fuel protests that have closed off roads have also led to huge jams throughout the country. When you add both together, you get chaos! Tralee, Cork, Killarney, Nenagh, Limerick, Dublin etc have all seen disruption on an epic scale. For example it took a JJ Kavanagh bus 3 hours to get from Naas to the Red Cow tram stop in Dublin! For the last few days, the bus between Limerick and Shannon Airport has been suspended at times, and all the Kavanagh services from the South up to Dublin Airport have had to avoid Dublin all together, running non stop from the Red Cow stop to the Airport, and even then there's been significant delays!
The Irish Governments answer is for everyone to use public transport (what public transport!) and worse still, to threaten the protestors with the Army would you believe! Wouldn't talking to the protestors, and a promise to dramatically improve public transport be better? It is rumoured that the government are to announce measures to tackle the issue tonight, we will see.
The latest lie from the Irish Government is a good one, but everyone has had the sense to see through it. The Health Authorities in the Irish Republic, who are responsible for Ambulances, have said last night that fuel levels for Ambulances are being assessed due to the risk of them running out of fuel. Luckily for them, yesterday afternoon 5 truck loads of fuel were allowed out of a depot by protestors to be delivered for ambulances in Kerry to use lol. The thing is protestors will ensure emergency services have fuel no matter what the Irish Government say, they're not going to bring the country to that much of a halt!
You are presenting a very one-sided view of this and engaging in a fair bit of hyperbole especially in the third post above.
Let's be honest here, there a group of people who are unelected, and pretty much are random groups, are attempting to hold the government and the country to ransom here and causing significant disruption to public transport, and now are causing significant disruption to the fuel supply into the State by preventing the fuel that has already been landed from being distributed to garage forecourts across the State by blockading access to and from Rosslare Europort, the fuel depots in Galway and Foynes that take in refined oil from ships, and at Whitegate oil refinery in Cork.
They government did not threaten the protesters with the army - what has happened is that An Garda Síochána have requested the support of the Irish Defence Forces to help them in clearing the roads around the fuel depots and Whitegate refinery of the vehicles blockading the roads. That's a big difference from what your post and which a lot of online chatter suggested. People need to perhaps tone down their reliance on nonsense posted on social media.
We in Ireland (I see that you aren't an Irish resident, based on your location) live in a parliamentary democracy. You seriously cannot expect any government to sit down with every random group of people who have a grievance and who engage in protests - that would be a green light for any and all groups to engage in the same sort of action. It would be tantamount to just allowing anarchy.
The problem is that the legitimate concerns of a significant part of the community who are being hit with the surge in costs, have to a degree been hijacked by certain far right elements who are determined to cause serious harm to the State at large.
Looking at the current group in O'Connell Street who put four names forward as potential negotiators with Government, we have of those four:
1) One person who owes Revenue Commissioners EUR 500k in unpaid taxes, and has convictions for animal cruelty
2) Another who is engaging in rhetoric advocating "closing down the State" if government don't meet his demands, and who has also said that he has no control over other protesters in different parts of the country.
3) A third has expressed significant far-right views over the years.
No government can deal with those sorts of people.
The president of the Irish Road Haulage Association has said that while they offered to act as honest brokers between some of the protesters and the government, they were given a widely disparate set of demands which makes negotiating very difficult.
This notion that any random protestors can bring the country to a standstill is not acceptable.
The people who are protesting need to either organise themselves with leaders who can negotiate effectively, who do not lead people up the garden path with unrealistic objectives, and who certainly are not of the calibre that I listed above. There are established representative groups that represent the various sectors of the economy - that's who the protestors need to express their views through.
At the same time the government do need to get a package of supports in place for the agricultural and distribution sectors ASAP, but the notion of implementing a price cap is beyond ridiculous - we cannot control the price of oil or gas and what some of these people are advocating is akin to writing a blank cheque that would bankrupt the entire economy. If the current situation in the Middle East worsens, we are all going to suffer and frankly in that scenario there may well be consequences that no Irish government can protect against either through supplies drying up or costs spiralling.
I certainly do not view blockading ports, fuel depots or the refinery in the way that has been happening as acceptable behaviour - it isn't and it needs to stop.
A final point is that social media does not give an accurate picture of how a society as a whole feels - if you were to believe what you read then the current and last governments could never have been formed.
FYI just as a minor side point, the name of my country in the English language is "Ireland", or you can use the descriptor "Republic of Ireland".
"Éire" is the name of the country when writing or talking in the Irish language, which I suspect that you do not use on a regular basis!
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Just to update this - An Garda Síochána have now cleared the blockade at Whitegate oil refinery, with the Defence Forces assisting by removing vehicles that were blocking access.
Oil tankers are now being escorted into the refinery by Gardaí.
In the UK fuel is often close to or actually a loss leader, they hope you buy something in the shop too (e.g. coffees for over 4 quid are extremely profitable). That's why the shop is there rather than just automatic pay at the pump. Supermarket ones are a bit different as it's hoped you'll do a big shop while you're there, like e.g. the toilets or cafe it's something intended to make the offering more attractive.
Probably not true everywhere though, in mainland Europe unsupervised pay at pump only stations are very common, so they must be profitable.
THE majority of fuel protesters and blockades have been cleared on O’Connell Street – as gardai continue operations across the country. It comes after Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly con…
www.thesun.ie
A garda spokesperson said: “A Garda Operation is ongoing at Galway Docks to ensure critical supplies of fuel to maintain critical emergency public services, including Ambulance and Fire Services.”
Just after 3.30am, Frontline Uniform Gardai, Plain Clothes Gardaí and Garda Public Order Units were deployed to start removing vehicles parked on O’Connell Street.
The idea that these "protestors" could give a flying F about public transport is ludicrous, they have blockaded the two busiest public transport routes in the capital for 3 days now including both tram lines and the gang in Galway targetted the main city bus depot which has also been blocked.
They are in it for themselves as well as a number of the main agitators being well known far-right mouthpieces. No shortage of anti immigrant, anti vax type demands being bandied around alongside cheap diesel demands.
A bunch of scumbags that believe they can hold the entire country to ransom, one of them on the main news tonight "we'll close the country down". Fuel carrying ships are now being turned away at terminals, emergency services are warning of restricted services due to fuel shortages. In any other country, including the UK the riot squad would have been out to deal with them, haul away to jail and drag their (very expensive) farm equipment and trucks to an impound lot.
Possibly a naive question, but what would stop fuel retailers in the Republic from sourcing their supplies from Northern Ireland which doesn't seem to be affected?
Possibly a naive question, but what would stop fuel retailers in the Republic from sourcing their supplies from Northern Ireland which doesn't seem to be affected?
It'll be some EU law prohibiting purchasing outside of the EU, there's also the distance the tankers would have to travel such as down to remote parts of Kerry, making it unviable without adding even more costs onto the consumer. With all the road blocks, it would have taken an awful lot longer too meaning things such as driving hours would have been affected. Dublin Port was still mostly open during the blockade, but it was really difficult to get around Dublin so that was a problem as well.
Of course for all the protesters pleading poverty unless their fuel costs have meant they are loosing money on the jobs they are doing then surely protesting must be costing them a decent chunk of change and as such protesting seems a little silly.
Also it's all well and good cutting fuel duty but the shortfall that then causes has to be mitigated and they'll probably end up paying in some other way.
Lastly I bet most Irish people simply want to get on with their day and need to go to work. Blocking the roads and making fuel difficult to obtain makes life difficult for the majority of people in Ireland who are not protesting, if people can't get to work and as such don't get paid, you can't get to a supermarket to get food, and your kids can't go to school you are not going to support the protesters for very long.
Now that is absurd, given that there's a soft border and full freedom of movement between NI and the Republic.
I don't agree with Brexit - to put it mildly - because it makes life more difficult here in the UK and restricts migration between the UK and Continental Europe, and would much prefer soft borders between the UK and the Continent. But... the EU does seem to have some really silly rules at times. Should EU membership status trump geographical proximity especially where full FoM exists? I would say not.
It'll be some EU law prohibiting purchasing outside of the EU, there's also the distance the tankers would have to travel such as down to remote parts of Kerry, making it unviable without adding even more costs onto the consumer. With all the road blocks, it would have taken an awful lot longer too meaning things such as driving hours would have been affected. Dublin Port was still mostly open during the blockade, but it was really difficult to get around Dublin so that was a problem as well.
there is no restriction on the movement of fuel from North to South subject to the usual excise requirements (ie different excise duties apply in the different jurisdictions which has always been the case) - and nothing changed as a result of Brexit
Almost certainly, I should imagine! Any oil exporting country outside of the Persian Gulf. However the government of Eire or the Republic of Ireland will not have much influence on these countries to use their handsome profits to subsidise fuel prices in that country.
Since the dispute has now spread to sympathy demonstrations in the UK, I'll give my two pennarth.
They'd be better off campaigning against the USA/Israel that have caused this problem in the first place, rather than our own governments. How about a boycott of goods and services from those countries.
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