Cork emergency services concerned about long-term impact of fuel protests

Emergency services in Cork have admitted they are concerned about the long-term impact if protests persist but as of Friday are "stable" despite the fuel scarcity.

As more than 200 fuel stations across Cork city and county dried up on Friday, long queues were observed at several locations with customers attempting to fill their tanks for fear of a prolonged fuel drought.

Second officer with Cork City Fire Brigade Victor Shine told the The Echo that while their fleet of emergency vehicles are not in danger of running low on fuel yet, “it is always a concern”.

“We’re stable at the moment, so we’re not panicking,” said Mr Shine. "We have a minimum supply of fuel ourselves that we fuel in-station, but we do need trucks to keep us topped up.

“We’re supported by some of our surrounding petrol stations in the city, so we can go to them for fuelling when we start to get critical.

“Our trucks use quite a significant amount of diesel, so we’re hoping our fuel suppliers will still be able to fill our tanks when we need it.

“The emergency vehicles aren’t so bad, it’s staff coming in – when they run short on fuel, we could run short on staff, so it is getting a little bit more concerning.” 

Some relief appeared to be on the way as protesters allowed two trucks in at Whitegate refinery in Cork and five trucks at Foynes depot in Limerick to get fuel for emergency services across the country. 

The Health Service Executive’s (HSE) South West branch announced that contingency plans had been activated in the region as low fuel levels have the “potential to impact service delivery” across Cork and Kerry.

According to the organisation, critical services, including emergency care, urgent patient transport and time‑sensitive treatments, such as dialysis, oncology, complex paediatric cases, bowel care, and urgent care cases are being prioritised.

“Services have been directed to review staffing, transport, supplies and discharge arrangements to minimise disruption, and non‑urgent activity may be deferred where necessary,” a HSE spokesperson said.

“HSE South West is working closely with national colleagues and relevant agencies to monitor the situation.” 

Cork Airport communications manager Barry Holland advised passengers in Cork to depart with ample time ahead of their flight to ensure a timely arrival at the airport.

“Passengers who are flying from Cork Airport over the coming days are advised to be mindful of potential traffic disruption and to leave additional time for their journey to the airport,” said Mr Holland.

While there has been reports of flight cancellations at Kerry Airport due to low jet fuel supply, a spokesperson for the facility confirmed that this is false information and that flights are operating as usual.

It is understood that airlines are not currently concerned about diminishing levels of jet fuel as no form of jet fuel is produced at the Irving Oil Refinery in Whitegate, which has been subject to an ongoing blockade since Tuesday.