Police in Ireland used pepper spray and made arrests to clear protesters who had blockaded the country’s only oil refinery, moving to restore supplies after five days of nationwide demonstrations over soaring fuel prices.
Authorities, supported by Defence Forces personnel, moved in to reopen the Whitegate refinery in County Cork on Saturday and to escort fuel trucks. National broadcaster RTE posted video showing officers dragging a protester from a tractor as police dispersed demonstrators.
Garda commissioner Justin Kelly said the protesters’ actions were “endangering the state,” adding that the blockading of “critical national infrastructure such as fuel depots and refineries” had caused fuel shortages directly impacting emergency services including hospitals, ambulance and fire services. “In the coming hours and days, we will have further such operations,” he said.
The protests began on Tuesday in response to spiralling petrol and diesel prices linked to the Middle East war. Demonstrators — mostly truckers, farmers and transport operators — partly blockaded Whitegate and restricted access to at least two other fuel depots in Galway and Foynes, County Limerick, choking fuel distribution and threatening freight movement.
“We can’t continue to do business with the cost of fuel, cost of wages, everything,” protester Paddy Murray told RTE, calling on the government to intervene. The actions disrupted bus services nationwide and tram services in Dublin. Some marches through Dublin included right-wing nationalists.
Fuels for Ireland chief executive Kevin McPartlan said about 600 of the Republic’s 1,500 filling stations had run dry. Operations at an Irish Rail-run port were severely impacted by the blockade, with the port nearing capacity and ships potentially having to anchor offshore or divert.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin warned the protests could force Ireland to turn away fuel shipments amid a global shortage, calling the situation “unconscionable, it’s illogical, it is difficult to comprehend.” Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan called continued blockades “unacceptable,” saying no groups are entitled to “hold our people to ransom in such a manner.”
The government’s earlier measures, including tax cuts and rebates, have not offset rising oil prices tied to conflict in the Middle East.
Edited by: Karl Sexton