Tractors sat on O’Connell Street and O’Connell Bridge was cordoned off. Dublin Bus said that “essentially anything that’s trying to come across the city is trapped.” By Friday, April 10, 2026, the “Can’t Afford to Move” fuel protests had run four days, and Ireland’s capital was still gridlocked.
Four days of blockades
The protests began on April 7 as slow-moving convoys and blockades in Cork, Dublin, Limerick, Tipperary and Galway, the Irish Examiner reported. Fuel depots in Limerick and Galway were obstructed. Organizers planned a second wave on Thursday, with Dublin groups assembling from 7:00am at Kinnegad Plaza and several motorway junctions.
The disruption reached emergency services. A garda spokesperson said police had “received reports of emergency workers being delayed or not being able to travel to their work.” Dublin Fire Brigade reported “significant delays in their response to emergencies” from its Townsend Street base.
By the third day, the Irish Times said, Luas green line services were suspended between St. Stephen’s Green and Dominick, and the M50, M3 and M7/N7 had closures. About 40 forecourts in Munster had closed their pumps, and most service stations in Kilkenny city had run out. Protesters held Ireland’s only oil refinery, at Whitegate in County Cork. The Defence Forces were helping gardaí with heavy vehicle recovery.
What protesters wanted, and what the government said
Demands included a kerosene price cap and cancellation of the carbon tax increases planned for May. Taoiseach Micheál Martin refused to deal directly with protest groups. “Fuel depots will have to be cleared,” he said. He later called the actions “crossing into criminal behaviour” that went “beyond legitimate protest.”
Organizer James Geoghegan told RTE that protesters had pulled back from O’Connell Bridge and released kerosene from the refineries. He called a Government Buildings meeting set for Friday afternoon a “breakthrough.” Defence Minister Helen McEntee argued that state support, nearly €4 million daily, was the highest per capita in Europe during the Middle East crisis. Geoghegan’s reply was blunt: “it is only going to get bigger and bigger every week if it comes to it.”
It did not. Arab News reported that police cleared the tractors and trucks from central Dublin on Sunday, April 12, after five days. Diesel had risen more than 20 percent since the outbreak of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, and protesters, mostly farmers, drivers and contractors, had also blocked two ports and a fuel terminal. About a third of petrol stations in the country had run dry. Officers had cleared the refinery blockade on Saturday and moved on Galway Port on Sunday.
Finance Minister Simon Harris called it “a very dangerous moment.” A poll in the Sunday Independent found 56 percent of voters backed the protesters, although most supporters of the two governing parties opposed them.
Sources
- Further fuel protests expected as major disruption continues
- Fuel protests: Protester negotiators to attend large Government meeting tomorrow (live updates)
- Irish police clear fuel protesters from central Dublin after days of gridlock
Sources
- Google News – News about protests • fuel – Overview
- Irish fuel protests: Irish PM announces €505m in fuel-cost measures…
