A fuel protest is set to occur on Friday, 13th of November. In the midst of the public sector strike on Thursday and EU summits across the week, major routes in and around Dublin like the M1, M3, M4, M7, N2, and N11, are expected to be blockaded.
Truckers and hauliers announced the action in preparation for the hikes in toll prices across the national road network. Tolls are expected to go up by 10c on the M50 and up to €1 in the Dublin Port Tunnel. While the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) is not participating in the protest officially, they will not be discouraging farmers and truck drivers from participating. The groups who organised the fuel protests earlier this year in April are the ones organising the upcoming protest as well.
The protests are going to coincide with a five day long action currently being carried out by rank-and-file Gardaí during the EU summits. The actions by the Gardaí were deliberately carried out at the same time as the EU presidency summits, and the fuel protests hope to concur with this action.
Key figures from the previous fuel protests spoke to the Irish Times about the causes for relaunching another round of protests. James Geoghan said the protests were coming as a result of the rising costs of “everything”. “It’s another major cost. It’s rising the cost of doing business in this country and the Government just doesn’t understand how businesses work and the effect that rising costs have on them,” he said. The President of the IRHA, Ger Hyland, said it was a result of desperation: “Desperate times make desperate people.”
He added, “The anger out there is palpable… it really is palpable.”
An organisational group on Facebook posted plans for the protests. They said with regards to the timing: “Next week, European leaders will be coming to Dublin, with EU leaders meeting on Friday, 13th November. We believe this is an important opportunity to make our concerns heard, not just in Dublin, but right across the country.”
With the addition of these fuel protests, Dublin is set to face a number of disruptions to commuters, and bus and luas routes. The fuel protests will be occurring a day after the public sector strikes and at the same time as the rank-and-file Gardaí’s action. It is understood that each of these groups has chosen this week to enact their grievances given the high-profile nature of the EU summits occurring over the course of the week.
