Gardaí cracking down on fuel protests; risk to National Museum collection; job losses and AI

Gardaí cracking down on protests; fuel cuts to kick in; National Museum storage; Job losses and AI

Listen | 09:42
Scenes at protest at a fuel cost protest on Dublin's O'Connell Street. Photograph: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos
Scenes at protest at a fuel cost protest on Dublin's O'Connell Street. Photograph: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos

Gardaí are warning that fuel protesters who block roads or slow traffic on motorways will now face arrest, detention and will have their vehicles towed away.

Cuts to fuel excise duty will kick in at midnight tonight, but oil prices continue to surge after the US began a blockade of Iranian ports near the Strait of Hormuz.

The building housing the National Museum of Ireland’s collection “presents a significant long-term risk”, the chair of the museum board’s chair has said.

Job losses as a result of artificial intelligence could hit as many as 200,000 in the State, according to an ESRI report. Losses on that scale could have a much greater impact on the economy than the crash of 2008, and would impact the mental health of Irish citizens, a leading academic has warned.

Andrew McNair

Andrew McNair

Andrew McNair is an audio producer at The Irish Times

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