Emma Daly’s eight-year-old daughter has seen the lorries and tractors blocking roads in protest at the spiralling cost of fuel and has been asking questions.
“I’m trying to explain how dear things have got compared to years ago,” she says. “Apart from our wages. It’s £2 for milk. This is why Mammy and Daddy’s skint.”
The Derry woman has stopped for diesel at Donaghy’s Filling Station in Muff, Co Donegal, where on Thursday there was a steady stream of mainly northern-registered cars at the pump.
“Usually, I would put about £20-£30 a week, and now I’m putting in maybe £60 a week for the same journey,” says Laura O’Neill, also from Derry. “We have always come over the Border, it’s cheaper.”
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Frank McDaid from Moville, Co Donegal says he has beenmaking fewer journeys but, as a farmer, he needs diesel.
“I certainly am concerned. It’s become very expensive to buy, and you worry, should I buy it now, or wait and see if it comes down?” he says.
The filling station’s owner, John Donaghy, has felt the impact.
“People are now just putting in enough to keep them going for two or three days, maybe half filling their tank and throwing in €20 now and again,” he says.
“The volume of sales has declined dramatically, [as has] the amount of traffic on the road.
“We get a lot of guys in here who are contractors or hauliers, farmers, and it’s getting more and more difficult for them to stay viable as businesses or even to earn a living.”
He speaks of a feeling of “disillusionment” borne of successive challenges, from Brexit to Covid-19, the cost-of-living crisis and now the economic impact of the US-Israeli attack on Iran and subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“What’s frustrating people is the fact the Government is bringing in record revenues and they’re able to spend, squander money – the children’s hospital: what a complete and utter waste.
“They’re all about Apple and the big corporation tax and the big American firms. What about the ordinary people?” he asks. “People are struggling.”
At Donaghy’s, the euro price of diesel was 208.9 cents per litre on Thursday, and 181.6 pence in sterling. It does not sell petrol. It has not been affected by the prospect of fuel shortages, as its supply comes from Lisahally, on the northern side of the Border. The average price of diesel in Derry – according to the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland’s fuel price checker – was 186.2p, while petrol is 151.9p.
Between the two is Reddins Coach Hire. The Border runs right through Don Reddin’s bus yard in Muff; he buys his diesel in sterling and is now paying more than £2,000 (€2,296) per week more for fuel than he was before the latestattack on Iran began.
Asked how his firm is coping, he replies: “You’re going on reserve, you’re not coping. You can’t cope. There’s no way you can cope.”
More than half his business is based on school contracts with authorities in the North and the South, but he says “nobody’s speaking about education ... no one has given us any form of help or hope or anything else”.
Although he says “the overall tax on fuel has to come down”, he sees his only option as to try to “sit and wait it out”. How long can he afford to do so? “Not much longer. Another month and I’m in trouble.”
In this situation, a fuel shortage would be a reprieve. “Just put us off the road, close the gates and leave us alone until this all goes back to normal.”
He says “the Irish Government is getting loads of abuse, the British Government has done absolutely nothing” and explains why he did not join the protest.
“It’s all a total waste of time. If you think it’s the right thing to do, go ahead ... but all you’re doing is causing chaos.
“People going to hospitals, people with appointments, people with flights – people don’t need this obstruction. Plus, all you’re doing is wasting more fuel.”
Back on the forecourt at Donaghy’s, Elizabeth McDaid has concerns.
“Hopefully they can come to some agreement,” she says. “These things can get out of hand and cause more problems.”
Yet most are firmly behind the protesters, including owner John Donaghy.
“Everyone will benefit. I know there’s inconvenience ... but at the end of the day, people are at the end of their tether, and we have to take action.
“Irish people like to work. We’re proud of our wee businesses, we do our best and our hands are just being completely tied by people in Dublin that, they either don’t care or they just don’t give a damn.”
“Shut the whole thing down for a week,” says George McDermott, a skip driver from Co Donegal. “It’ll benefit everybody in the long run.
“Fair play to them boys down the country. Fair play to them.”
Emma Daly gestures towards the children in the back seat of her car. “If I didn’t have four wains [children], I’d be joining in along with them.”
