The Government was strongly critical of the fuel protesters in a series of interventions on Wednesday, while the Taoiseach and Tánaiste insisted that they would only meet “representative organisations” as the fuel protests headed for a third day.
While some protesters said they would end their blockades if the Government would sit down with them to discuss their demands, Ministers insisted that they would speak only to organisations such as the Irish Road Hauliers Association (IRHA) and the Irish Farmers Association.
In a statement last night after a meeting between Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Simon Harris and Minister of State Seán Canney with the IRHA, the Government said it would “continue to engage with national representative organisations and keep the situation under review”.
Both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste were strongly critical of the protests yesterday, with Martin appearing to suggest Garda action.
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Asked at a press conference if the Garda should act to keep roads open and depots clear, Martin said: “Fuel depots will have to be cleared. There’s no justification whatsoever for blockading fuel depots, it runs counter to what everybody wants, which is access to fuel on a timely basis.”
While acknowledging the right to protest, the Taoiseach added there would have to be “penalties” for those blocking streets and fuel depots.
“But what is not acceptable is people declaring that we will turn O’Connell Street into a car park. That’s not acceptable. There are people with businesses on O’Connell Street who need to survive, who need footfall. We need people to be able to access those businesses.
“That’s not acceptable. And anybody who just simply parks a truck in the middle of nowhere, there should be penalties, and there will be penalties, in terms of any violations of various laws that apply there.”
Later, speaking again to reporters following a meeting with the Moldovan president Maia Sandu at Government Buildings, Martin clarified his earlier remarks saying that “policing is an operational matter” insisting he “never mentioned anything to do with arrests” earlier in the day.
However, he added: “no one can just park a truck in O’Connell Street or in any other street and just leave it there and we have traffic laws.
“We have a variety of laws and fines that attach to that and I think those have to apply properly.”
As disruptions around the country continued into a second day, some Opposition parties were more circumspect in offering their support to the protesters. The Green Party said they wanted to see an end to the protests, while Aontú, the Social Democrats and Labour also said that the protests should not continue but that the Government should sit down with the protesters.
Asked if they supported a continuation of the protests, Sinn Féin said only that a meeting between the protesters and the Government “should happen straight away to allow everyone to get back to work”.
Independent Ireland said it had seen “reports that the organisers have sought a meeting with the Government”.
“Given the scale of participation and the level of discontent across the country, it is entirely reasonable that such a request would be met with engagement from the Government so as to find a resolution and bring the protests to a conclusion,” the party said in a statement.
People Before Profit called for a widening of the protests “into a broad movement to force Government action to end the cost of living crisis.”
