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Irish Fuel Protests Growing, Some Protest Leaders Denied Entry to Government Meeting – HotAir

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April 10, 2026
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Ireland Out of Gas – HotAir

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If there was any way to handle this badly, the Irish government is determined to do so. You would almost think that they have no clue who they’re dealing with.





As I told you yesterday, three days of fuel protests had grown into gridlock on city streets as bus drivers walked off in sympathy, snarls on the roads and highways as convoys of trackers, trucks, and participants crept along blocking traffic, or stopping completely. In some areas, abandoned cars added to the pile of vehicles as frustrated workers or airline travelers left the highways on foot to get to a job or pray they could catch a flight if they could hike to the airport in time.

Rings of organized protestors blockaded fuel ports and depots, and lines of cars hoping to fill up at gas stations that still had fuel added to the general misery of the situation for many.

The government refused to meet with any of the leaders of the various organizations involved, as they weren’t ‘sanctioned’ by the government, and, by yesterday morning, officials had called out the military in addition to the Gardai and local law enforcement in order to start yanking vehicles out of blockades, adding a very snippy note not to come crying if your car gets scratched as they do so.

The one hopeful bit of news came late yesterday, when word broke that the government was bending enough to hold a ‘large meeting,’ with many of the protest leaders scheduled to attend for a communal phone call. Accordingly, some of the depot blockades were lifted in order to allow desperately needed diesel and fuel deliveries to area stations and farms. Gesture of good faith, quid pro quo.

The last major news was when a large contingent of motorcyclists announced they would be joining the protest in Dublin on Friday morning, before the meeting.

Everyone settled in to wait, and it was peaceful but tense overnight. The Gardai were heavy ladeling out threats of intimidation, fines, and arrest to folks they encountered.

It appears that my guess that the call-up of the army would fuel further growth in the numbers of protestors and events is proving prescient. The government’s own actions are feeding the already simmering resentment.





Yesterday, commentator Michael McCarthy posted a crowdfunder to buy a coffee for the fuel protesters. He set a target of €3,000. Within hours, it had reached €70,000.

Last night, RTÉ’s Prime Time said that the threat made by Government of putting the Army on the streets against its own people seemed to have boosted the numbers protesting. In Gorey, musicians showed their support for the neighbours and friends: tunes reverbing amidst the tractors and trucks and families gathered in support. Those scenes were replicated across the country as the demonstrations passed the night and entered their fourth day.

The quiet anger and sense of desperation amongst the ordinary men and women driving their lorries and tractors has struck a chord with the public precisely because the impact of carbon taxes on the spiralling cost of fuel impacts everyone, and the truth is that the government is being dishonest when it says it can do no more.

In fact, this week we saw government representatives swinging wildly between boasting that they are steering the best/richest/fastest-growing economy in Europe and then pleading poverty when it comes to scrapping carbon tax – a tax levied despite huge public opposition according to polling. It’s important to remember that this cobbled-together Government – the same people threatening the protesters with the Army – have no actual electorate mandate for their policy of more than doubling the price of fuel with taxes and levies.

They’ve got away with it thus far using their usual tactic: pleading the EU and ‘international obligations’, and then shouting that the world is on fire and the Irish must buckle and live in caves even as the Chinese, and the Germans, keep burning coal. And, as ever, they are now relying on the political tactics of attack and deflect to try to undermine the furl protesters. But this time, so far, it isn’t working.





TO TAKE US OFF THE STREET AS IF WE WERE PEASANTS

This morning dawned dreary and wet, and Ezra Levant from Rebel News was out on an already shut-down Irish highway reporting.

The honking is amazing. But even the small fuel retailers who are being crippled at both ends by protestors and the government are supporting the protests. 

…I spoke to one small fuel retailer on O’Connell Street last night who pointed out that he and many others had been driven into a corner by the refusal of this government to listen and to understand. “All they care about is the EU,” he said. “It doesn’t matter to them if our businesses go to the wall or our kids emigrate. People feel desperate and angry and that just became this overnight movement that isn’t afraid of politicians condemning us or of what RTE thinks”.

“We’d all rather be at home with our families, but we’re going nowhere or they’ll have no future,” he said. “The TDs are totally out of touch with the people, they just keep saying the country is doing great when people are worried sick re bills and cost of living and housing. They are in a bubble and they don’t want to come out”.

I put it to him that Micheál Martin has said that “businesses and people’s livelihoods depend on this fuel”.

“Isn’t that the point we are making,” he replied. “We can’t survive while the government lashes on tax after tax when fuel is sky-high. The carbon tax has to go.”

He had much stronger words for Minister Jim O’Callaghan’s ridiculous claim that the protesters were being ‘manipulated’ by international actors such as Tommy Robinson. The Minister’s assertion – on which he later doubled down – was also noticed by Gript’s Fatima Gunning: “Is it so hard for our leaders to understand how angry a lot of people are and not accuse them of simply being “manipulated”?” she asked. Precisely.





THE CRIMINAL CARTEL THAT’S DESTROYING THIS COUNTRY

The call has gone out to ‘get to Dublin’ however you can.

At the Whitegate Refinery in Cork this morning, the protestors were there in large numbers, with linked arms and tightly packed bodies.

The Gardai were there, too. It was like an old West showdown when an unexpected sight appeared atop one of the tankers, behind the backs of the defensive line of officers, and it drew a roaring cheer from the assembled protestors.

In Dublin, before the big meeting, the crowd carried a coffin to the parliament building.





And then the meeting, which started off badly.

Four of the representatives of groups from different parts of the country who had been on the list of attendees arrived and were then denied entrance.

The meeting went ahead without them. On the streets outside of The Dail, the bikers arrived to add their racket to the protest noise.

And, at the moment, Dublin’s city center is slammed with vehicles festooned with the Irish tricolour and people braving the freezing temperatures.

Those talks?

Postponed. 1 p.m. Saturday. The Irish government says they won’t speak to anyone except those whom they’ve blessed as acceptable.

…The protests, now entering their fourth day, have caused widespread traffic chaos, blockades at ports and fuel depots, and shortages at around 100 forecourts nationwide. Demonstrators, including farmers, hauliers, and agricultural contractors, are demanding government action on soaring diesel and petrol prices, exacerbated by global tensions in the Middle East.

Earlier hopes of direct talks between protest organisers and senior ministers faded as the government clarified it would meet only with established representative bodies, such as the Irish Farmers Association and the IRHA. 

Protest leaders expressed frustration, insisting on inclusion in meaningful dialogue.Some limited concessions have emerged locally, including the release of fuel loads for emergency vehicles at Foynes Port. However, blockades persist in key areas like Dublin, Cork, Galway, and Whitegate, with organisers warning of continued disruptions if demands are not addressed.

Motorists faced long queues and diversions, while concerns grow over impacts on emergency services and supply chains. Both sides have called for calm, but protesters say they will not disperse without concrete commitments.

The rescheduled meeting at 1pm tomorrow is seen as a critical moment to avert further escalation.





Saturday in Dublin could be pretty crowded, as there are calls for everyone to go to Dublin now.

It doesn’t appear as if the Irish government is playing with a full deck, however arrogant about this they want to be.

There is also growing support for organizing a general strike, an idea that’s gaining traction even in the face of protest disruptions.

And it’s all been peaceful…so far.

Actually, there have been some real benefits to the inconvenience noticed.

…O’Connell St would generally be crawling with dregs from 3rd world hell holes, gypsies picking pockets, and of course our own degenerates high as kites on crack shuffling around.  

Just a co-inky-dink I’m sure.

Perhaps they should add immigration, deportations, and criminal reform to their agenda items while they’ve literally got the floor.

Carpe diem.


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