Government reveals fuels support package as protests end and tankers leave Whitegate

Dozens of fuel tankers left Whitegate oil refinery on Sunday as fuel protests and blockades eased and the Government announced price cuts. 

The Government will reduce the price of petrol and diesel by 10c per litre, along with a 2.4c reduction on green diesel.

The price cuts are part of a €505m package of measures agreed at an emergency Cabinet meeting and follow nearly a week of disruption caused by nationwide fuel protests.

The protests had led to more than a third of the State’s fuel stations running dry in recent days.

Other measures agreed include an extension of temporary excise cuts and reductions in oil levies, a delay until budget day of scheduled carbon tax increases, and increased supports for the transport industry.

The measures came after blockades across the country were broken up by gardaí or abandoned by protesters over the weekend, although some disruptions continued, with Cork city centre among the areas targeted by slow convoys on Sunday.

Fuels for Ireland said it expected Whitegate oil refinery to return to full capacity on Monday.

Protesters abandoned their blockade of Whitegate at Saturday lunchtime following an earlier Garda action which broke through the barricade, allowing fuel tankers access. 

During scuffles which saw gardaí deploy pepper spray, several protesters were pulled from the crowd. 

As they left Whitegate, organisers said they were standing down due to concerns about people who had joined the blockade on Saturday, saying they had been worried the new arrivals had intended to “cause trouble”.

Garda commissioner Justin Kelly confirmed that a number of arrests had been made at Whitegate.

He vowed to step up enforcement against protesters, who were, he said, “endangering the State” by blocking critical infrastructure.

An overnight Garda operation saw the blockade on Dublin’s O’Connell St cleared in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The blockade of Galway Port was also cleared, meaning the tanker Thun Gemini, which was carrying 6m litres of fuel from Antwerp to Galway Port, was finally able to dock on Sunday after days waiting to do so.

In Foynes, protesters voted to end their blockade on Sunday morning, and gardaí cleared the M50.

In Cork city, traffic was bumper to bumper on the South Ring Road as a slow-moving convoy travelled eastwards during Sunday afternoon.

Traffic was also halted at the junction between Camden Quay and Christy Ring Bridge when a number of people blocked the junction.

Slow-moving protests were also taking place in areas including Bandon and Clonakilty. Smaller groups turned out in other areas of Cork.

Package of measures

Speaking after Sunday evening's Cabinet meeting, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said a significant package of measures had emerged from talks, and that the Government would be announcing a fuel subsidy support scheme for farmers and fisheries.

Mr Martin was  critical of the protesters, saying they had imposed the blockades “with a self-declared” mandate.

“They have explicitly rejected the right of democratic representative groups to speak for them and have gone well beyond simply expressing their point,” he said.

“Nobody has a right to blockade our country,” he added.

Tánaiste and finance minister Simon Harris thanked gardaí for restoring “law and order”, and said the Government could not be expected to engage with “self-appointed” spokespeople.

“Nobody in Ireland has a right to obstruct the free movement of people. Nobody has the right to dictate who gets free passage and who does not,” Mr Harris said.

Minister of state at the Department of Transport Seán Canney, who speaks in Cabinet for the Independent TDs in Government, has said the Government's new transport support scheme is intended to "help and support those who are vital in our economy".

He said the scheme will cover licenced hauliers and will also be opened up to "certain other sectors within transport".

He added that armers, fisheries, agricultural contractors, and island transport will all benefit.

Meanwhile, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit, and Independent Ireland said they will support a Sinn Féin motion of no confidence in the Government over its handling of the fuel crisis.