Julie Helen: 'Confusion set in for many people about protests'

When the fuel protests began, I was fully behind all the farmers, hauliers, contractors, tour operators, and all those impacted by the soaring cost of fuel, who felt like they had no choice but to protest to have their voices heard.

Peaceful protest is inconvenient by its nature; it causes disruption and frustration. It is an important part of our democracy.

The Government can reduce tax on fuel on a short-term basis to help ordinary, hard-working people through a crisis, like they have done in recent days. It probably feels minuscule and not enough, particularly when it comes to green diesel. Farmers and agricultural contractors are facing their busiest time of year.

They were already under pressure facing into the season before this started. We knew 2026 was going to be a year when we felt the pinch in comparison to other years, so some outfits, particularly those who were put to the pin of their collar already, must be under almighty stress altogether, and my heart goes out to them, to those genuinely struggling and trying to keep their business going.

As often happens, as time moved on, the situation began to escalate, and I became more uneasy. There were reports of factions of the far-right hijacking the original plight, and that felt like the wrong way to go. It felt scary, actually. Public support can only stay with protests when the messages are clear, and confusion has set in for many people now.

Outside influences of war and conflict ultimately caused the rise in fuel prices to skyrocket. Shortages at the pumps, however, were as a result of the blockages at oil refineries and distribution centres, and when that happened, I wasn’t sure about it, though I understand that escalation of protest needs to happen if initial action does not have the desired impact.

I’ll put it this way, being the wife of a self-employed haulier, my gut didn’t think it was safe or fair to block distribution, and with tensions high for everyone, it was more than unsettling.

The Government handled things badly at the beginning, I feel, they came out of the traps with very strong words. They were trying to halt things, but it landed wrongly on the ground.

Language makes a big difference in these situations. All the meetings and the jostling and responses on social media became a bit overwhelming.

I am someone who consumes a lot of news, and I understand a lot about lobbying and the political process and was still a bit baffled.

I can see where officials were coming from in wanting to deal with organisations that have elected officers and governance structures, so that when agreements are made, the representatives can call off or change the nature of the action, and the members will listen and respond accordingly. If there are no structures, there is more likely to be unrest, just like we saw happen.

The protests trickled on longer than anybody had intended, other groups started jumping on the bandwagon, diluting the strength of the message, and public support dwindled.

People all over the country are feeling the consequences of price hikes. A lot of it is out of the Government’s control because we are tied into how things work in Europe. I don’t think that was truly explained to any of us when it needed to be, and confusion turned to anger - and then many people aren’t sure whether they are angry at the Government. Are they angry at the protesters, or are they just plain fed up with the whole situation? Hopefully, things will settle soon for everyone.