Fuel protests: Gardaí call for organisers to engage with them as protests could continue to next week
Sarah Slater, Vivienne Clarke and James Cox
- Dublin's O'Connell St is closed
- M7 motorway closed
- Bus Eireann, Dublin Bus warn of delays and diversions, Luas Green line is disrupted
- Organisers say they could be maintaining roadblocks until Friday
- Slow-moving convoys reported on N21 from Adare towards Limerick city, Limerick- Ballysimon Road, and Macroom bypass in both directions in Cork
- Taoiseach says blocking cities and towns is "wrong".
- ICTU boss Owen Reidy has spoken of “double standards” in the way union protests are treated compared to those of farmers.
Commuters are facing further disruption getting home from work on Wednesday evening as the fuel protests continue.
Dublin Bus have said several of their services and routes have been disrupted, with buses to the City Centre inbound and outbound North and South only operating from Parnell Square.
Services westbound will operate to and from Heuston Station only.
The Minister for Justice has warned that protestors will face consequences if they break the law.
Jim O'Callaghan issued a statement after his meeting with the gardaí, in which he said: "I emphasised to them that while Government respects the right to protest, that right must be exercised lawfully and must respect the rights of others to earn a livelihood or to move freely.
"I also informed the Gardaí that it is essential our ports and fuel depots remain open and fully accessible.
"Government is well aware of the pressures on people from increased fuel costs, but democracy cannot be dictated to by an unelected group whose actions are now damaging the Irish public.
"No one is above the law and those breaking the law should know that there are consequences for unlawful activity."
Dublin Fire Brigade are appealing to all involved in the fuel protests in Dublin City Centre to ensure the free passage of all emergency vehicles, both on blue lights heading to an emergency and also returning to base to serve their operational area.
They said they experienced significant delays in their response to emergencies, particularly mobilising from Townsend Street HQ. Alternative mobilisation routes are being employed, with the use of empty Luas lines.
In a statement, they said: "The situation has eased somewhat, due to the excellent cooperation with An Garda Siochana, liaising with protesters and clearing routes for our vehicles.
"We continue to work with the other emergency services to ensure operational readiness and emergency access, and we ask all involved to be extra vigilant and compliant when they hear emergency sirens approaching.
"Do not wait until the emergency vehicles reach the blockades. Please allow the other blocked traffic through in advance, so the route is clear for our vehicles to approach.
The Government will soon issue advice on how to conserve energy use amid soaring fuel costs.
Two weeks ago, the coalition signed off on a range of measures to reduce costs, including a temporary excise duty reduction for motor fuels, expansion of the diesel rebate scheme for hauliers and bus operators, and an extension of the fuel allowance.
It saw an effective reduction of 22 cents for diesel and 17 cents for petrol – but the savings have largely been eroded by further price increases as a result of the war in the Gulf.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said on Wednesday that the Government will “shortly” be launching an “energy-efficiency programme” for households.
He said: “We will give helpful advice to citizens that if you reduce your energy use in certain ways, you can reduce the cost for yourself in respect of that energy.
“There will be a comprehensive programme of advice, a public communications programme.”
Protesters have called for a cap on kerosene and diesel, and for the carbon tax and excise duty to be removed for an interim period.
A spokesperson for the protest group in Dublin said that if protesters went home later or on Thursday, they would be back next Tuesday, when the Dail returned.
“We will hopefully go home, but the word from other groups around the country is that if they go home today or tomorrow, they’re back next Tuesday. Government is sitting next Tuesday,” James Geoghegan said.
Around two dozen protesters stood on O’Connell Bridge on Wednesday morning as a handful of tractors remained parked on O’Connell Street overnight.
There were some tense exchanges between Dubliners walking through the city’s main thoroughfare and the protesters, with one woman telling the protesters that they had the fuel to drive up to Dublin so they should drive home.
One protester was overheard saying that they had “pedestrianised” the city centre as the Green Party had wanted.
Geoghegan, a spokesman for the protesters and a contractor from Co Westmeath, said they would “not go home broke”.
“We can’t go home without a result. We simply can’t afford to go home,” he told the Press Association.
An Garda Síochána said they are engaging with those involved in the fuel protests around the country.
They have received reports of emergency workers being delayed or not being able to travel to their work, of people not being able to attend hospital appointments or visit loved ones who are ill.
The gardaí have asked protestors to engage with gardaí locally to facilitate public transport and other traffic.
In a statement, they have also said they have no role in permitting or authorising public gatherings or protests
Traffic is at a standstill on busy roads across the country, as the fuel protests continue for a second day.
There are major disruption nationwide, with sections of motorways and national roads closed.
Those planning on using public transport are being urged to check for updates, with Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann warning of severe delays and diversions.
Luas Green Line services are still not operating between St. Stephen's Green and Dominick.
Long delays on the N7 now from Naas and onto the M50 due to slow-moving vehicles heading for Dublin city centre. Making very slow progress.
Motorists being advised to use the M4 and back roads, Kill, Kilteel, Rathcoole, Newcastle to get around the protests.
Tánaiste Simon Harris said the Government is engaging with national representative bodies and said the disruption caused by the protests was “not in our national interest, it’s not in our economic interest, it’s not in the interest of social cohesion”.
Asked if the Government would meet with the groups involved in the protests, Micheál Martin responded there are “many, many different groups and many different voices” involved and “the only feasible way to engage is with the national representative bodies of the different sectors, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Asked if fuel pumps could run dry if depots are blockaded, Sean Canney said that would be “a ransom”.
He said: “I think people need to understand that what’s happening here is not in the national interest, it’s not in the people’s interest and we need to just reflect on that.”
There are big problems on the M7 city-bound now at Naas due to slow-moving traffic made up of trucks, tractors, vans, buses and cars.
Motorists are being advised to avoid the motorway if they can and use alternative routes to get around.
Fuel protesters blocking cities and towns around Ireland are “wrong”, and those breaking the law will be penalised, the Taoiseach has said.
Micheál Martin, Simon Harris and Sean Canny spoke to the press outside Government Buildings on Wednesday morning and criticised the actions of those taking part in the demonstrations.
Towns and cities across Ireland have experienced traffic and travel disruption since Tuesday morning when slow-moving convoys of tractors, trucks and lorries started their protests.
Martin said: “The protests at the moment are wrong.
“To prevent mobility, to prevent people from accessing livelihoods, medical appointments, disrupting day-to-day activities in the manner that has happened, is wrong and is a wrong form of protest.”
Asked if the gardaí would clear the protesters on roads and around fuel depots the Taoiseach said: “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.”
He said while he respected the right to protest, it was “not acceptable” to turn Dublin’s O’Connell Street “into a car park”
Dublin Chamber called on those involved in the ongoing fuel protests to engage through the appropriate channels to concerns, and to immediately cease the sustained disruption impacting Dublin.
Dublin Chamber CEO Mary Rose Burke said: “The current level of disruption is placing an unfair burden on businesses and workers who have no direct influence over the issues being raised. It is neither sustainable nor proportionate.
“The most effective way to achieve meaningful progress is through constructive dialogue.
"We are urging protestors to engage with policymakers and relevant stakeholders through established channels, where their concerns can be properly heard.”
The M7 motorway continues to be closed at the Portlaoise Bypass resulting in significant traffic snarl-ups.
In Birr, Co Offaly traffic is at a complete standstill alongside Tesco supermarket
MEP Ciaran Mullooly slammed the Taoiseach for being “petty and disingenuous” for saying he will not meet with the protesters unless they are a national representative group.
“He should swallow his pride and get on with the discussions which would immediately end the protests and ease difficulties for the public who are caught in the middle.”
Independent Ireland TD Richard O’Donoghue said in an online statement that the M7 is “currently empty due to effective protests on the motorway in both directions.
“Well done to all involved, including An Garda Síochána who have been very understanding and working with the protesters to ensure the protest is done safely.”
The general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Owen Reidy, has spoken of the “double standards” in Ireland in the way union protests are treated compared to those of farmers.
His comments come as the Minister for Transport said it was not acceptable that people were not being allowed to go about their daily lives.
Reidy said: “I've been involved in many public transport disputes over the years, and we have to ballot our members for industrial action, serve seven day’s notice, and ultimately, if we don't do that, the High Court can injunct the disputes and sequester the union's funds, but it seems farmers and businesses, because the hauliers are businesses, can do as they please."
Something was happening in “middle Ireland”, he said on RTÉ radio’s Today with David McCullagh show, and said the Government had a problem because they were not responsible for the current crisis.
It was not acceptable that people were not being allowed to go about their daily lives because of the fuel protests, the Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien has said, calling for a de-escalation of the situation.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Today with David McCullagh show, the Minister said the government had been in discussions with “recognised national representative bodies” such as the hauliers.
“We have responded significantly already. We cannot have a situation where people’s normal daily lives are being affected. People have a right to go to work. We cannot respond to every single protest that happens.”
Costing businesses significant losses was counterproductive, he added.
“This is unprecedented, what's happening right now, and what I would ask for is a de-escalation, an end of the protest. I think we've already seen what is happening in the Middle East, finally an initial de-escalation, the first one we've seen of a ceasefire.
"This is a global crisis. Ireland, like every other country, is impacted by it, and we'll do our best to support people, but the way of doing that is not to disrupt our own supply chain.”
There is major traffic disruption in cities and on motorways due to the fuel protests, including at fuel depots in the west and in Dublin.
“Essentially anything that’s trying to come across the city is trapped,” Dublin Bus spokesperson Blake Boland told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.
â ï¸Passengers, please be advised Green Line services are currently not operating between St. Stephen's Green and Dominick. Services are operating between Broombridge and Dominick and between St. Stephen's Green and Brides Glen only. This is due to a protest at O'Connell Bridge. We…
— Luas (@Luas) April 8, 2026
O’Connell Street is now closed on both the north and south sides with Dublin Bus attempting to divert buses along Eden Quay and Gardiner Street.
Organisers of the fuel protest on the M8 motorway in Cashel say they could be there until Friday.
The blockade was maintained overnight by up to 80 trucks, vans and tractors.
Adrian Williams, a local organiser told Tipp FM News that many of the protestors are “prepared to stay out all week”.
Williams said diesel prices need to be capped at €1.70 and petrol at €1.60.
The protestors claim that they will not end their action until the government does something about the rising cost of petrol, diesel and home heating oil.
The Communications Director of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, Sean O’Neill, has called on anyone using the motorway network today to leave hard shoulder access available for emergency vehicles.
There were disruptions impacting the motorway network around the country with “go-slows” backing up traffic significantly. The protests were causing significant disruptions to people’s lives, he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland would be working with the gardaí to manage the situation, he said. It was important to keep hard shoulder access for emergency services.
"So we do ask that publicly for anyone, whatever your reasons for being there, you need to leave those hard shoulders available for emergency vehicles and emergency use because one of your loved ones could be impacted by that.
“At the end of the day, we ask everyone to obviously be patient. We know this is a major disruption across the network, but we're dealing with it live and the gardaí are doing an excellent job in helping us manage it as well.”
Gardaí have warned of possible road blocks to Dublin Airport and the Port Tunnel. Protestors have now blocked Fleet Street in Dublin, which was an access route.
Dublin Bus spokesperson Blake Boland said that while a number of buses were able to leave their depots earlier this morning, there was now a challenge in getting buses across the city.
“So you might be expecting a bus on the outskirts of Dublin, 10, 12 kilometres away that simply can't get out there in order to turn and do that trip back into town again.”
With 130 routes and 800 to 900 buses on the street, the situation was very changeable and Dublin Bus would be trying to keep the public up to date on cancellations, delays and diversions through on street signage, the Dublin Bus website and social media.
“I think everybody is sympathetic to the fact that there are delays and diversions out there, so we're trying to get the information out to people, we have chief inspectors there on site, and what they're doing is trying to marshal buses, move them around, perhaps communicate with customers on the ground,” said Boland.
Slow-moving convoys and significant traffic delays are currently reported at locations including:
Co. Limerick- N21 from Adare towards Limerick city
Co. Limerick- Ballysimon Road
Co. Cork- Macroom bypass in both directions
Motorists are advised to plan their journeys accordingly pic.twitter.com/m9hgqRm1iZ— An Garda Síochána (@GardaTraffic) April 8, 2026
Patients must not be used as pawns by any party in the current transport protest, the Irish Patients' Association has said.
The organisation said it understands the concerns driving the protests but warned that the impact on patients and citizens is already immediate, real, and being experienced across the country.
Chairman Stephen McMahon said the situation reflects a wider crisis, shaped by global instability but now felt at a local level.
"The grievances that have brought farmers, hauliers and contractors onto the streets are understood. Fuel costs are threatening livelihoods and entire industries. That deserves a serious response from Government.
"But Ireland's patients and citizens cannot be the collateral damage of this dispute, itself shaped by the wider impact of war.
"Every party at this table has a responsibility to ensure that our national resilience is protected, not dismantled. We do not protect Ireland by undermining it."
The chief executive of Fuels for Ireland has expressed frustration at the garda management of protests at fuel depots in Galway and Foynes.
It was very concerning that deliveries could not be sent out to forecourts around the country, he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.
“I have to be honest, we've been a little bit frustrated that the Gardaí haven't been managing the protests in such a way as to ensure that there is access and egress from those terminals, not least because emergency services need to be able to get in and out if something goes wrong."
There was a risk that some forecourts would run out of supplies if there were no deliveries today, he said.
There was no fundamental threat to supply as there were “completely normal stock levels at the terminals”, he said, and he hoped the problem would be short-lived. While he had a great deal of empathy with the protestors, he appealed to them, “Don’t cripple the entire country by stopping fuel supplies.”
McPartland said there needed to be an overall review of the tax and also the compliance costs involved in fuel supply in Ireland.
“We pay more tax than any other European country. I have been told, and I was told last week, that we would have a meeting with the Tánaiste/Minister of Finance this week. I'm waiting for that to be confirmed, and that's the point I'll be making to Simon Harris when we meet this week.”
There were protests on the M8 close to Cashel in Co Tipperary overnight, with scores of people maintaining a blockade.
MEP for the Midlands, Ciaran Mullooly, said in a statement online that protesters “are still out there".
"Farmers, contractors, hauliers, agricultural workers on the M8 in Tipperary. They go again from 6.30am (today) in Athlone, Tullamore, Galway and all over the country and all because (of) the two arrogant leaders of the two main political parties in this country.
“(They) are not prepared to pick up the phone and call them or even respond to the letter they were sent seeking dialogue seven days ago.”
The MEP noted that dialogue to help resolve some of the present difficulties - dialogue that has to happen if these protests are to be stopped.
“If you support them (protestors), call your local Government TD tonight and tell them the time has come to listen to the people who are hurting most - or these protests will go on,” he added.
Mullooly, who is currently in Brussels, said that he has been in contact with the Taoiseach Micheál Martin as to “how he could work along fuel companies” to make it easier not just for those involved in the protests but for “teachers, nurses, social workers who are saying they just cannot keep going.”
Mullooly added that he has put forward five proposals to the Government to aid workers.
So far, on the M4 and M7, traffic is moving well, with some usual commuting slowdowns after Naas and Maynooth on the main routes through Co Kildare.
In Tullamore, those taking part in the protests are gathering at the retail park in the town with groups from Clara, Kilbeggan, Edenderry and Birr at that location.
The bypass of the town is blocked by those meeting to protest. There is no access from the Clonminch area of the town to the Tesco roundabout.
They plan to move out from the retail park at 8.30 am, arriving into Tullamore town for 9am.
Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers has labelled fuel protests “unacceptable and irresponsible”.
Speaking to reporters at Government buildings on Wednesday morning, Jack Chambers said: “I think some of the protests we’ve seen today are completely unacceptable and irresponsible.
“They’re undermining business in our city and across the country.”
Responding to reports demonstrators have blocked a fuel terminal, he said action is “reckless in the extreme, and they should stand down their protest”.
He said the Government has “constant and regular engagement with the representative groups”, including the Irish Road Haulage Association.
Asked if the gardaí should move protesters who are blocking O’Connell Bridge in Dublin city centre, Chambers said: “They know how to manage protest.”
Minister of State Michael Healy Rae said the Government is going to react in a positive way to support hauliers and agricultural contractors impacted by rising fuel costs.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, the Kerry TD said it was obvious that “more has to be done for these people, because you cannot expect people to work for nothing.”
“If further reductions can be given, that is what the government will seriously have to look at, because if you take, for instance, last week, the Irish Road Hauliers Association met with Minister Darragh O'Brien, and he explained to them the measures of what he was going to be trying to do to help that association, and they actually, because of the negotiations and talks that they've had, while I'm not trying to say they're happy, but they know that government are going to react and react in a positive way.”
When asked if the Government would be encouraging people to use less fuel, Healy Rae responded that the government had always encouraged people to use less fuel, “but practicalities apply here, and if you live in a rural location, you can cycle or walk to work. You don't have a bus outside your door to take you to work. You have to go to work.
“There are certain things that have to happen every day to move goods, to feed people and to keep this country going, and one of those things is a thing called diesel oil, and we need to keep our transport going, and we need to keep things moving.
"Yes, you can encourage people not to use fuel unnecessarily, but at the same time, practicalities apply. People have to live, and you have to farm, you have to transport.
“Our hauliers have to do their job every day, which is keeping us all alive. If it wasn't for those people, this country would cease to operate.”
Speaking about the protests on Tuesday evening, Tánaiste Simon Harris said: “Everyone has a right to protest in a democracy, 100% no doubt about that, but I would also just say these aren’t consequence-free actions.”
He said he had heard reports of a range of individuals impacted by the disruption, including healthcare workers and small business owners.
Harris said: “We shouldn’t pit sectors against sectors.
“This is a moment of national challenge, and no one sector is more important than the other, and we have to work through this.”
He said the government was “engaging intensively” with bodies representing a variety of sectors, including farmers, farm contractors and hauliers.
Senior Government leaders meet this morning to discuss the energy crisis.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Simon Harris, Transport Minister Darragh O'Brien and Roads Minister Sean Canney will be briefed on the latest projections for how the crisis is likely to effect the economy here.
