{"id":390797,"date":"2026-04-10T00:52:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T00:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/390797\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T00:52:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T00:52:12","slug":"irish-fuel-protests-causing-serious-concern-for-emergency-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/390797\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish fuel protests causing \u2018serious concern\u2019 for emergency services"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is \u201cserious concern\u201d over fuel supplies for Irish emergency service vehicles after three days of protests over petrol and diesel costs arising out of the war in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

Hauliers and agricultural contractors began protests at various sites around the country on Tuesday by implementing slow-moving convoys on motorways, restricting access to Dublin\u2019s busiest streets and blockading fuel depots that supply half the country.<\/p>\n

Participants, many of whom have slept overnight in their vehicles as the demonstration entered a third day on Thursday, say they will continue their action until they receive engagement from Government or are physically removed.<\/p>\n

The latter option has become more of a possibility after Irish police formally requested the assistance of the Defence Forces in responding to what Ireland\u2019s premier called an \u201cact of national sabotage\u201d.<\/p>\n

In one of the first acts of enforcement, social media footage late on Thursday showed An Garda Siochana warning some protesters they could be arrested if they did not disperse from an area near Rosslare Europort.<\/p>\n

The development came as a spokesman for a concurrent blockade in Dublin city centre said there had been a \u201cbreakthrough\u201d, and claimed protest participants would be attending a meeting with Government on Friday that was originally scheduled for official national representative bodies.<\/p>\n

James Geoghegan told RTE\u2019s Prime Time they had \u201ca list of demands going into Government tomorrow\u201d \u2013 with a coalition spokesman stating that who \u201cnationally and democratically constituted bodies choose to bring along with them is a matter for them\u201d.<\/p>\n

The widespread disruption arose out of separate but co-ordinated protests around Ireland\u2019s major cities over demands for further cuts to fuel costs, which have soared as a result of the war in the Middle East and the impact on supplies passing through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

Just over two weeks ago, Ireland\u2019s ruling coalition signed off on a range of measures to reduce fuel costs, including a temporary excise duty reduction for motor fuels, expansion of the diesel rebate scheme for hauliers and bus operators, and an extension of the fuel allowance.<\/p>\n

It saw an effective reduction of 17 cent for petrol, 22 cent for diesel, and five cent for marked gas oil (green diesel) \u2013 but the savings were largely eroded as the war waged on.<\/p>\n

Protesters have restricted access to a major oil refinery in Whitegate, Co Cork, as well as fuel depots in Galway City and Foynes, Co Limerick.<\/p>\n

Other action saw major disruption to traffic around Dublin city as well as a complete blockage of key routes in the capital, including O\u2019Connell Street.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

It has raised concern over panic buying at forecourts, some of which have ran out of fuel, as well as impacts on emergency services and deliveries of key supplies for animal welfare on farms.<\/p>\n

On Thursday morning, Ireland\u2019s Justice Minister Jim O\u2019Callaghan said the Defence Forces would assist the police service, An Garda Siochana, in removing vehicles from the blockade.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThe blocking of critical national infrastructure will not be permitted to continue and the assistance of the Defence Forces has been requested.\u201d<\/p>\n

They military has four heavy-lift recovery trucks to help clear trucks and tractors and it is understood that assistance will be limited to these trucks and the personnel required to operate them.<\/p>\n

Defence Minister Helen McEntee told reporters at the Curragh Camp that the Defence Forces intervention was \u201cnever a first resort\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, she said: \u201cIt cannot be the case that individuals decide that they are going to blockade parts of the country and stop people from going about their business.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

In a statement to the media at Garda headquarters in Dublin, Deputy Commissioner Shawna Coxon said gardai are \u201cmoving to an enforcement phase\u201d unless protesters \u201cdesist and disperse\u201d.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cAn Garda Siochana is advising protesters to immediately cease blockades of such critical national infrastructure or face the full rigours of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taoiseach Micheal Martin said the \u201cGovernment had to act\u201d over the blockades of fuel centres but told RTE he did not expect violence if the army and gardai moved in.<\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Callaghan said protesters are being \u201cmanipulated\u201d by \u201coutside actors\u201d including right-wing activist Tommy Robinson.<\/p>\n

He said there were \u201cmany outside actors\u201d who \u201creally want to damage Ireland as a country\u201d, manipulating protesters online.<\/p>\n

The continued blockade means Ireland \u201ccannot continue to maintain fuel supply to forecourts\u201d, according to a leading industry representative, who warned that shortages were being felt most in the west.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Fuels for Ireland chief executive Kevin McPartland said the number of forecourts that had run dry was in the \u201clow double digits\u201d but warned that it would get \u201cmuch, much worse\u201d by the hour.<\/p>\n

Asked when fuel would run out at service stations, he told RTE radio: \u201cWe can\u2019t model it because we\u2019re not having normal levels of demand \u2013 panic buying has absolutely taken hold.\u201d<\/p>\n

He warned that \u201creal significant life-death problems are going to be caused\u201d with fuel supplies to emergency service vehicles also under threat.<\/p>\n

Ireland\u2019s emergency planning group echoed the comments with \u201cserious concern\u201d, saying there may be an impacts on availability for some emergency services.<\/p>\n

The National Emergency Co-ordination Group (NECG) said Ireland\u2019s overall fuel supplies remain \u201crobust and resilient\u201d, but added that blockades are continuing to cause significant disruption for the public, to supply chains and vital services, and public transport.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Ireland\u2019s Health Service Executive (HSE) said the disruption is causing people to miss medical appointments and is impacting the provision of home care and critical care, such as dialysis and cancer treatment.<\/p>\n

The HSE also warned that the blockades could disrupt the time-sensitive delivery of key medicines and medical devices.<\/p>\n

The NECG said the obstruction of key routes from ports is threatening the provision of animal feed supplies, fertiliser and other vital materials, resulting in potential animal welfare issues and a threat to livelihoods in the agriculture sector.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Protesters in Dublin city centre said they had nominated \u201cthree or four\u201d spokespeople they want to meet Government leaders.<\/p>\n

However, speaking on RTE radio\u2019s Morning Ireland show, one of them, John Dallon, said he does not speak for the protesters blocking fuel depots: \u201cI\u2019m here on the streets of Dublin, I have no voice as regards what\u2019s happening down the country as regards blocking up ports.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s happening down there is out of my hands, I have no control over what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is \u201cserious concern\u201d over fuel supplies for Irish emergency service vehicles after three days of protests over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390798,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[615,63615,171749,61,11829,60,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-390797","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-dublin","9":"tag-fuel-prices","10":"tag-fuel-protests","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-iran","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}