Fuel protest brings major routes to standstill nationwide
Fuel protesters have said “we want the carbon tax gone” as convoys brought major routes across Ireland to a near standstill.
In an interview with Gript this morning, spokesman for The People Of Ireland Against Fuel Prices Sonny Boyd described a “massive” turnout, saying roads leading into Dublin had been heavily disrupted.
He said that traffic had effectively halted in some areas, with vehicles blocking key routes as part of the demonstration.
“The turnout is absolutely massive that I can see so far,” Boyd said.
“I’m on all the WhatsApp groups there and there is absolutely hundreds blocking all M1, M4, M2, M7, M9, everything coming into the city is now at a standstill.”
He said that while some vehicles had been allowed through, including emergency services, long delays had been reported.
“I have not had a car pass me for I’d say probably 45 minutes,” he said.
“Now we have let ambulances through on the left-hand side, they’re all gone through, there’s no problem with that.”
Boyd said the objective of the protest was to highlight the cost of fuel and call for government intervention, including a cap on diesel prices and the removal of carbon tax.
“Well we need the government to cap diesel at a realistic affordable price for people,” he said.
“At the end of the day they take 60% roughly on average when you pay for your diesel, they’re taking 60% of what you put in and that’s just not fair.”
He added that demonstrators wanted the carbon tax to be abolished entirely.
“So we’re trying to get, we want the carbon tax gone because that’s the way we all see that is well you know we’re not going to make much of a difference, the small country that we are anyway, and it is an optional thing and we want it dropped.”
Boyd also criticised the government’s position on retaining the tax, stating that protesters believed it could be removed.
“To be honest I think they have to start thinking about the people of Ireland,” he said.
“They’re saying they can’t do it, we know they can. We know they can at the end of the day, this is ridiculous.”
He further raised concerns about planned increases to the carbon tax, saying protesters opposed any further rises.
“Yeah we know about this as well,” he said.
“Obviously we don’t want this and we’re saying to them no we want the carbon tax gone altogether and they’re thinking of putting it up.”
Boyd said rising fuel costs were affecting a range of sectors, including transport, agriculture and fishing, and warned of wider economic consequences.
“Like there’s people there just kids trying to get to school and the school buses are saying that they want 50 euro extra per week per child,” he said.
“Then you have the bus driver then actually can’t run his buses then because he’s not getting enough money.”
He added that the protest had drawn participation from a broad range of groups.
“We have taxis, we have an awful lot of bus men, we have an awful lot of fishermen,” he said.
“There’s going to be people out of jobs, there’s going to be food shortages on the shelves at the supermarkets.”
Boyd said organisers were aware that the disruption could frustrate commuters, but argued that the demonstration was intended to highlight issues affecting the wider public.
“Yeah just the way it is, we understand, but we’re actually doing that for them as well,” he said.
“This is the last thing as I said we want to do.”
He also said the group had received backing from a number of political figures, including Independent TDs and members of opposition parties.
“Yes we do, we do for definite,” he said.
“We have a lot of TDs and everything on our side which is great and we are getting the support from a lot of independent TDs. Obviously we have Aontu I think are supporting us as well. We have a lot of Sinn Fein members on board as well with us so yeah. It’s yeah we are definitely getting the support this time, it’s definitely something like that.”
Boyd said the group had yet to receive a formal response from the government.
“We were hoping that we were going to get something back on Saturday from the government but like that we never did,” he said.
“Now apparently there has been talks and they have responded but we’re waiting for that to come through now to see what’s happening.”
Slow-moving convoys have been observed on major routes including the M1, N2, N3, N4, N7 and N11, with Gardaí advising drivers to allow additional time for their journeys.
Disruption had also affected routes near Dublin Airport, while traffic management measures were put in place in several locations.
Fuel prices have risen in recent weeks, with diesel reaching about €2.14 per litre and petrol around €1.91 per litre in parts of the country, amid global supply pressures linked to disruption in the Strait of Hormuz amid the war between the US and Iran.
Tánaiste Simon Harris is due to hold a meeting on energy issues this week, as the government faces ongoing pressure over fuel costs and taxation.
“The turnout is absolutely massive."
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