Call to confront government as fuel fury boils over

A section of Cavan councillors have demanded direct engagement with the country’s leaders, as anger over fuel costs continued to simmer after a week of nationwide blockades.

What began as a procedural tussle quickly escalated, with a coalition of independents and opposition members quietly threatening behind the scenes to stage a walkout unless Standing Orders were suspended to force a debate on the recent fuel protests.

Councillors had spent the morning at Kingspan’s IKON innovation centre in Kingscourt on Monday last (April 13). By afternoon, news filtered slowly through that the remnants of blockades around the country - including at Cavan’s Dublin Road Roundabout - had dissipated.

Leading the charge, Independent Ireland’s Shane P. O’Reilly wasted no time in tearing into the Government’s €505M support package, branding it insufficient and exclusionary. While sectors like farming and haulage were acknowledged, he argued ordinary households were left in the cold.

“This needs to be looked at again,” he insisted.

Despite “agitators” intent on destabilisation, Cllr S.P. O’Reilly delivered a stern warning with respect to the wider protest movement: “The people have had enough”.

He urged Cathaoirleach John Paul Feeley to formally convey the people’s anger to Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris, amplifying what he described as a groundswell of discontent across Ireland.

“You can agree with it or not, but that was democracy in action,” he said, while praising the steady-handed approach by gardaí and work of members of the local authority.

Backing the motion, Sinn Féin’s Stiofán Conaty framed the protests as a manifestation of deep-rooted “economic injustice” driven by policies favouring big business over ordinary citizens.

The human toll meanwhile was laid bare by Aontú’s Adrian Rogers, who highlighted local agri contractor Cormac McBreen - now on the brink of shutting down (Pages 1 & 14). He said if businesses like his shut, then young workers will be forced to emigrate en masse to Australia and Canada.

Across the IKON conference room serving as council chamber, Sinn Féin’s Damien Brady described contractors and hauliers as operating on razor-thin margins, with some left “with nothing” after bills get paid. Demanding a diesel price cap, he said the crisis and growing discontent “didn’t happen over night. It’s been brewing for a long time”.

Independent Brendan Fay painted a bleak picture for other small businesses, highlighting how energy bills have more than tripled in recent years. “Where does it stop?” he asked.

“I won’t go into another winter,” said the pub owner.

“The likes of Apple and Paypal etcetera aren’t going to pay the bills.”

Cllr Connell (SF) added if contractors are to pass the extra cost on, then it’s the farmer who can’t pay, but they can’t.

Yet the debate was far from one-sided. Fine Gael’s TP O’Reilly defended people’s right to protest but drew a hard line at causing disruption. “No one has the right to blockade and stop others living their lives,” he said, condemning abusive behaviour directed at public representatives too.

“That shouldn’t be happening,” said Cllr O’Reilly, adding that any government support package has to be “measured” and staggered.

His comments were supported by party colleagues Trevor Smith and Winston Bennett, who claimed he had spoken with a farmer who was “delighted” with the supports offered.

He agreed, however, that no contractor should be left chasing an invoice payment of €33,000 from over a year ago, and urged the agricultural community to “pay your bills”.

Fianna Fáil’s Clifford Kelly went further, branding the obstruction of citizens and demands for identification as “wrong and very wrong”; while Cllr Feeley highlighted the serious knock-on effects protests had on hospital services and students during the irLeaving Cert cycle.

He also expressed dismay at the behaviour of some elected individuals - comments made by a senator which he said could be seen as “defaming”; and on social media, a post by an MEP of “tanks in Ireland” when in fact it was an image of armed forces on a training exercise in Lebanon.

Tensions flared between Cllr SP O’Reilly and Cllr Feeley over whether the Cavan blockade had been “cleared” or “removed”, with accusations that careless language could inflame an already volatile situation. Still, amid the clashes, there was rare agreement: that the debate had remained “mature” said Cllr SP O’Reilly.

Cllr Brady said it was an “awful shame” the army weren’t deployed to West Cavan in the wake of Storm Éowyn where dozens of homes were left without power, some for weeks on end.