Dublin truck protest Little disruption to traffic in city
about 3 years in The Irish Times
A number of hauliers and truckers protesting over spiralling fuel costs have been fined for obstructing roads in the docklands area of Dublin.
The protest has caused disruption in the east of the city after demonstrators gathered from early Monday morning.
Truckers and hauliers protesting against rising fuel prices blocked routes to Dublin Port but caused little in the way of traffic disruption.
About 25 vehicles were involved in blocking the Tom Clarke Bridge, formerly the East Link bridge, and the roundabout at the Point Village.
The Garda Press Office said city traffic was “moving” overall with the major disruption confined to the east of the city around the port.
The demonstration over rising fuel prices is much smaller than previous protests in the Dublin Port area.
Traffic to and from the port was diverted down Sheriff Street Upper and away from East Wall Bridge which is blocked nearest the Point Village.
The streets of Dublin were largely deserted on Monday morning as motorists appeared to heed advice to stay away from the city centre.
A Garda spokesman said there were no significant traffic issues as a result of the protest.
A rally in O’Connell Street planned for 9am did not take place. All of the truckers involved in the protest declined to speak to the media when approached by The Irish Times.
The group behind the protest, which named itself The People of Ireland Against Fuel Prices, previously said it would not leave without a resolution on the issue, and called on participants to be prepared to protest “for at least one week, maybe even two”.
The demonstrators were previously known as The Irish Trucker and Haulage Association against Fuel Prices.
Before Christmas this group held two similar protests, the first of which had significant traffic repercussions, while the second was much smaller than anticipated.
The People of Ireland Against Fuel Prices group is not affiliated with the official Irish Road Haulage Association.
Demands
In a post on Facebook, where they organise the protests, the new group said it would not be a one-day demonstration and would be a “long, drawn-out process until our demands our [sic] met”.
“We are a group of truck companies struggling to stay afloat and have come together, along with farmers, bus companies, taxis and the general public to protest as the price of being in business and the cost of living is not affordable. We are all in crisis,” the post said.
The group condemned the Government’s plan to increase tax on fuel, referring to the carbon tax increase that is due to come into effect on May 1st.
The group’s demands include price caps on petrol, diesel and home heating fuel, the scrapping of the carbon tax and the resignation of Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan.
The price caps the group are seeking are €1.10 per litre for petrol, €1.20 per litre for diesel, 65c per litre for green diesel and 65c per litre for home heating oil.
The most recent price survey from AA Ireland found the average price per litre of diesel was €1.90, while petrol was €1.82.
Chief executive of Dublin Town business group, Richard Guiney, said on Monday protests and disruption were not what Dublin needed at a time when businesses were still “coming out of the pandemic”.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr Guiney called for dialogue with the protesting truck drivers, saying businesses and their staff were also experiencing inflation.
He said the issue was “something we need to work on together rather than one sector impacting on another, especially when that sector is still so fragile”.