Fuel protests disrupt Ireland as over a third of service stations run dry
LONDON (AP) — Protests over the soaring cost of fuel spread disruption across Ireland on Saturday with many gas stations running dry as truck and tractor drivers staged a fifth day of blockades at the country’s sole fuel refinery and several depots.
Vehicles blocking traffic led to closures of the main highway around the capital, Dublin, as well as six other major roadways.
More than a third of the 1,500 service stations in the republic are out of fuel and that number is expected to grow dramatically if the roadblocks remain, Fuels for Ireland chief executive Kevin McPartlan said.
Irish police put all its officers on notice they could be called to duty over the weekend and the military was on standby to help remove the vehicles as the government was due to renew talks Saturday to resolve the dispute.
Frustration over the soaring cost of fuel led to the protests that began Tuesday and have continued to grow as word spread on social media.
Government officials, who had already introduced measures to ease the burden of price rises, have been baffled over the rationale behind the protests because the price spike is global and due to the conflict in the Middle East that has restricted oil exports.
Prime Minister Micheál Martin said Friday that the country was on the brink of turning tankers away during a global shortage and was in jeopardy of losing its oil supply.
“It is unconscionable, it’s illogical, it is difficult to comprehend,” Martin told the national broadcaster RTE.
Truckers, farmers, and taxi and bus operators are among those who have staged the blockages and called for caps in fuel prices or cuts to excise or carbon taxes.
The government approved a range of measures two weeks ago to cut fuel prices, including a temporary reduction in excise taxes on motor fuels, expansion of a rebate for truckers and bus operators that use diesel fuel, and extension of a program that helps low-income people with their heating costs.
But those reductions were quickly overtaken as international prices continued to rise.
Protests began with slow-moving convoys that restricted access to some of the busiest streets in Dublin and blocked fuel depots that supply half the country. Some protesters slept in their vehicles overnight, demanding that the government speak with them.
Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said Thursday that outsiders were manipulating the demonstrators to advance their own agendas or “really want to damage our country.”