{"id":408471,"date":"2026-04-20T15:58:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T15:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/408471\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T15:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T15:58:08","slug":"fuel-protest-group-threatens-further-action-next-month-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/408471\/","title":{"rendered":"Fuel protest group threatens further action next month \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

An online group claiming to represent professional drivers, farmers and hauliers is warning the Government that large peaceful fuel protests<\/a> could be rolled out again next month.<\/p>\n

The People of Ireland Against Fuel Prices Protest group, which played a key part in organising the nationwide protests and blockades over the Easter period, is holding meetings at locations over the next two weeks to discuss its next moves.<\/p>\n

The group also purports to represent bus operators, taxi drivers and plant operators.<\/p>\n

The protests brought much of the country\u2019s major road network to a standstill, and many forecourts ran out of or rationed petrol and diesel amid blockades at the country\u2019s only oil refinery in Whitegate in Cork in addition to blockades at Foynes, Galway and Rosslare ports; Dublin\u2019s O\u2019Connell Street; and other towns.<\/p>\n

Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> labelled the protests and blockades as \u201cnational sabotage\u201d. The Government\u2019s handling of the protests resulted in a no-confidence motion being tabled by Sinn F\u00e9in leader Mary Lou McDonald. The Government won the motion but lost the backing of Independent TD brothers Michael and Danny Healy-Rae.<\/p>\n

The Government agreed to a second package of supports to ease the pressures of fast-rising fuel prices following the major protests across the country.<\/p>\n

Reductions on fuel duties and a delay in a carbon tax increase were introduced last week in a package costing around \u20ac505 million on top of \u20ac250 million worth of measures announced three weeks ago.<\/p>\n

In an online statement the group said it has already made a \u201cmassive statement\u201d to the Government and that it will \u201cnot be silenced\u201d and will not accept being \u201ctaxed beyond\u201d what people can afford to pay.<\/p>\n

The group claims there are a number of meetings taking place nationwide concerning how any potential protests would proceed.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Patrick O\u2019Donovan admits making \u2018hames\u2019 of comments on fuel protests coverageOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The statement continues: \u201cHowever, we remain clear on one thing \u2013 we are prepared to protest again. Peacefully, but in numbers that cannot be ignored.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur plan is to allow the next two weeks to play out and see what comes from these discussions. If there is no meaningful progress, we will move forward with organised, peaceful protests on foot across major towns throughout Ireland. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis has always been about showing the Government the reality \u2013 the sheer number of people struggling every single day due to the ongoing cost of fuel. From home heating oil to petrol, to green and white diesel. These are not luxury items. They are essentials for living and working, and people simply cannot afford the extortionate prices any longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group said if there are \u201cno real developments within the next two weeks\u201d, protests will start on May 2nd. <\/p>\n

\u201cOn that day, we will come together once again in unity to send a clear message [that] this Government must go.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018We were quite badly affected\u2019: Irish businesses count the cost of fuel protests and blockadesOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An online group claiming to represent professional drivers, farmers and hauliers is warning the Government that large peaceful…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408472,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[171749,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-408471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-fuel-protests","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408471","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=408471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}