Taoiseach Micheál Martin has been left fulminating about mass fuel protests in Ireland, as farmers and hauliers shut down much of the country for a second successive day. The blockades follow a surge in fuel prices resulting from the illegal US-Zionist assault on Iran that has caused huge damage to fossil fuel infrastructure in the region.
Martin denounced the shutting of Cork’s Whitegate Oil refinery by truck and tractor drivers, calling the move an “act of national sabotage”. He said:
It makes absolutely no sense in the fuel crisis we are currently facing. It is beyond belief that people would seek to deny people around the country access to vital fuels.
It is a fuel crisis the Irish government did little to prevent, as Martin failed to condemn the horrific assault on Iran by Trump and Netanyahu in which they have murdered over 3500 Iranians. Instead, the Taoiseach focused his ire on Iran itself, calling it a:
…very malign influence in the world and in the Middle East.
Micheál Martin paying the price for deference to Trump
Micheál Martin later was in full bootlicking form on St Patrick’s Day as he nodded and grinned alongside the genocidaire squatting in the White House. Of course, opposition from Ireland alone couldn’t have stopped the illegal aggression from the rogue terror regimes in Washington and Tel Aviv.
However, had there been significant pushback from Dublin and other European capitals, Trump may have thought twice about launching his latest criminal onslaught in Iran. Europe produced meaningful opposition to the US president’s threats against Greenland, and ultimately, the thug backed down.
After the war crimes in Iran started, Martin defied all logic and evidence by trying to claim the increase in petrol was simply due to price-gouging. He and other obsequious leaders are now reaping what they sowed for their prostration before US-Zionist criminality.
Protestors have vowed to continue their actions throughout Thursday April 9. The Irish Timessaid:
Organisers pledged to continue protesting until they secure a meeting over rising fuel costs…
Martin and other ministers have thus far met with the Irish Road Haulage Association, saying:
The discussions were constructive and form part of a series of meetings between the industry and government.
He continued:
On Friday, Ministers Heydon and Dooley will meet national representative bodies of contractors and farming organisations.
Farmers and delivery firms have said the fuel increases have made business costs impossible. The BBC quote agricultural contractor Christopher Duffy declaring:
Bluntly, in two month’s time, I’ll be out of business. There is no point putting any gloss on it.
You can’t continue on in business when your costs are going up at this rate.
The lines of buses, tractors and trucks across the island have led to areas of Dublin being devoid of traffic as key roads such as O’Connell Street were completely jammed. The Garda have warned the public of delays, but have yet to meaningfully intervene against the protesters. It marks a striking contrast with how gardaí treated pro-Palestine activists when the latter attempted to block key national infrastructure.
Garda stand off in contrast to approach for pro-Palestine protestors
On 4 October 2025, when anti-genocide demonstrators tried to block Dublin port tunnel, they were met with brutish violence from Garda goons. Gardaí deployed pepper spray at point blank range, and put protestors in choke holds.
The INLO said the conduct likely was:
…in violation of obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (article 21) and the European Convention on Human Rights (article 11).
The difference in policing clearly stems from a fear of further pissing off industry sectors that can shut a whole country down. There’s also the complex politics often at play in fuel or farming protests. While fuel costs affect everything, and therefore affect everyone, the particular grievances of hauliers and farmers are often those of small business people whose class interests don’t necessarily align with those on the left backing labour.
As business owners and employers, they have an interest in lowering costs, including on wages of those they employ. This alignment of interests with the ruling class likely explains the reticence to crack down immediately on such protests in the way the state does against transparently left-coded actions of pro-Palestine groups. Farmers’ protests often receive much more favourable coverage in the right-wing press compared to other work-related demonstrations.
Of course, those protesting will undoubtedly include tiny operators genuinely on the breadline. These nuances and contradictions were on display in Dublin when socialist People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy turned up in support of those holding the blockades. In a febrile atmosphere, he was chased off by a crowd convinced he wasn’t acting on other cost of living issues such as housing, despite Murphy being outspoken on the government’s failures.
Murphy’s final interaction was with a woman accusing him of:
…sticking up for this LGBTQ+ ideology that’s going into the schools.
Even in the midst of illegal wars in which all but a few lose out, class rifts and culture war continue to impede the left’s capacity to organise.
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