Fuel price protests will 'lose the goodwill of the people', says Dublin Town chief
Vivienne Clarke
The chief executive of the business organisation Dublin Town has warned that the fuel price protests will cost goodwill.
Richard Guiney told Newstalk’s Claire Byrne show that while he had sympathy for everybody in the current circumstances, businesses were also facing large energy price increases.
The experience from previous similar protests was that the city continued to function, but that the protestors lost the goodwill of people who could have been their allies.
“I'm not sure that they're going to get what they want out of this kind of protest. And, you know, in terms of the general public, a lot of people will just work from home during the protests.”
Guiney anticipated there would be a decrease in footfall in the city centre, “probably in the region of about 10 per cent. That's what the experience was before.
“But, you know, those businesses, particularly in the retail side of the house, are already, with all the other options that are out there, online shopping, etc, are feeling a fair amount of stress.
“Obviously, we all need a strong economy, and that's what we need to work together towards.”
Meanwhile, the Government said they will do “as much as it can for as long as it can” to respond to rising fuel prices, the Minister for Higher Education James Lawless has said.
“We've cut the price of diesel and petrol at the pumps. We've extended the winter heating scheme into another four weeks. So we're doing as much as we can for as long as we can, but one of the things about this war, this situation, is it's moving so rapidly, and it is quite a volatile situation. So the war could ramp up or the war could ramp down.
“As Government we have to do something sustainable, that's costed, that's repeatable, and the taxpayer ultimately can stand over. So we're taking it one step at a time.
"We are engaging with industry, trying to manage people's expenses, because we know it's hard, and pump heating in particular is a strain.
“We'll revisit at the end of the four weeks. But look, I think at the moment it's one week at a time, and that's very much the way the war has been playing out as well. It could be all over, or it could be into another escalation.
“We just don't know where this is going to take us. We have to step carefully in a way that is sustainable and that the economy can afford.”
The Government was looking at short-term measures and long-term measures, he said. “I think in the long term, we need to look at our energy mix; we just need to really drive it home.
"The longer that we're importing fossil fuels from outside the EU, the longer we will continue to be dependent on oil stocks or gas stocks or these kinds of surprises in the markets and these kinds of exposures.
“We need to become more sustainable in terms of energy independence, renewables, other fuels, other sources beyond fossil fuels, and have a wider energy mix.”
Research was ongoing for “the optimal energy mix” including hydrogen, nuclear, hydro, he said. It was important to have the facts before decisions were reached and ensure an evidence-based policy that supported clean energy and reduced Ireland’s dependence on oil stocks.
