Fuel protest ‘cleared’ from Dublin as Cabinet prepares to hold emergency meeting

A blockade of Dublin’s main thoroughfare has been cleared in a late-night police operation, ahead of an emergency Cabinet meeting to sign off on measures the Irish Government hopes will bring all protests over fuel costs to an end.

The protests – which involved blockades of streets in the capital, Ireland’s only oil refinery, and key depots – strangled fuel distribution across the country and prompted an escalated policing response that resulted in several arrests and public order gardai deployed in Cork, Galway and Dublin.

Participants – largely led by hauliers, farmers, and agricultural workers – began separate but co-ordinated action on Tuesday with slow-moving convoys and outright stoppages on major motorways, as well as blockades of critical infrastructure.

Some protests rolled overnight into Sunday morning, with spokesmen calling on the Government to take urgent action to reduce fuel costs which they say are at unsustainable levels and will lead to people going out of business.

The coalition Government is expected to sign off on fuel-cost measures on Sunday evening, but it remains to be seen if it will convince protesters to call off their actions before the return of schools on Monday adds to pressure on the roads.

The Irish police service, An Garda Siochana, cleared a blockade of the Whitegate oil refinery in Co Cork around lunchtime on Saturday and vowed to implement further enhanced enforcement actions.

It saw physical clashes between protesters and gardai, who used pepper spray during the hour-long operation which resecured access for fuel trucks.

Gardai were later called to a similar action at Galway harbour, where hundreds of protesters gathered in pouring rain while restricting access to a fuel depot by blocking the way with tractors.

Members of the Public Order Unit, wearing protective gear and batons, were at the scene for hours overnight.

On Sunday morning, An Garda Siochana announced all blockades in Dublin had been cleared following an overnight operation on O’Connell Street.

It said illegally parked vehicles would be removed and blockading vehicles were removed under escort.

Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly had vowed to step up enforcement against fuel-cost protesters “endangering the state” by blocking critical infrastructure.

Protesters’ demands for meetings with Government were not acceded to but relevant ministers held talks with established national representative bodies on Friday and Saturday.

These meetings concluded with a “substantial” package involving a temporary fuel transport support scheme” and “temporary fuel support”.

It is understood the transport support scheme will see direct payments to businesses in the sectors affected by high fuel costs.

A senior source said the scheme will be part of a broader package on the fuel crisis.

The engagements included Irish Road Haulage Association president Ger Hyland, who said there were “the bones of an agreement” with the Government.

He added he hoped the “substantial package”, understood to include a direct payment scheme, would be agreed by Sunday morning.

The Cabinet is due to meet on Sunday afternoon to sign off on the measures.

The pledge of a “substantial” package was not enough to dissuade protesters away from their blockades without Garda intervention on Saturday.

Commissioner Kelly said: “Some people have decided to escalate an already difficult situation by blockading critical national infrastructure such as fuel depots and refineries.

“This has resulted in fuel shortages that are directly impacting on emergency services such as hospitals, the ambulance service and the fire service, as well as businesses and the general public.

“These are blockades. They are not a legitimate form of protest.”

He said: “We gave the blockaders fair warning that we were moving to enforcement and they choose to ignore it and continue to hold the country to ransom.”

A small number of Defence Forces personnel with heavy-lift recovery trucks have been on standby to assist gardai with moving large vehicles if needed.

The escalated enforcement action came after Fuels for Ireland chief executive Kevin McPartlan said around 600 of the 1,500 filling stations in the Republic of Ireland had run dry on Saturday morning.

He predicted the number “would grow quite dramatically” if the blockades on Whitegate in Galway and Foynes, Co Limerick, continued.

Blockades have resulted in full closures of parts of the M50 ring road around Dublin, as well as other major motorways, although Gardai announced blockades on the M50 at junctions five and seven had been cleared on Sunday morning.

Meanwhile, police in Northern Ireland said they are “maintaining an ongoing assessment” in relation to social media posts calling for similar planned protests there.

A PSNI spokeswoman said: “A policing response has been prepared, if needed, to ensure public safety and to help minimise any potential disruption to the wider community.”