Trump Culture has arrived in O Connell Street,

cremeegg said:
he government should re-consider the green diesel subsidy
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I think the government should review all subsidies in general. They are just a means of taking money from one cohort of the population and giving to another, either from taxation or by increasing the national debt (if not running a surplus).
 
Sister Sara said:
If you were talking about 1 tractor or lorry, I'd agree with you. But there appears to be hundreds, if not thousands of vehicles participating in this protest.
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Are you suggesting that they will all go out of business if the government don't subsidise them?

Sister Sara said:
All of whom are inefficient, according to you.
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That's right, take everything to its literal extreme. That's how you have a constructive discussion. :rolleyes:

Sister Sara said:
How long would the liquidation of all these assets take and the purchases by a 'better' business - should they be inclined to step-in, take? Let alone the logistics of taking up a new market share, customer base, etc.
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Do you think they would all go bust on the same day?


Sister Sara said:
And comparing apples and oranges.
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Yes, real open competition with closed and/or subsidised sectors who think that the State is their Mammy.

Sister Sara said:
No it wasn't. Thats why oil price fluctuations a few months ago were stable. The idea that sole-traders who may be operating one-tractor, one-lorry, earning an industrial wage should be clued into the implications of geo-political negotiations of the Iranian nuclear program, or was it the regime-change?, is simply not realistic.
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We must be very clever so. Same for others in my sector... and the hauliers and freight companies who have had a fuel surcharge option in place for ages.
 
Are all the haulage vehicles being used to block the roads licensed. Perhaps the abuse of a truck in this way should mean the withdrawal of the hauliers license.
 
cremeegg said:
Are all the haulage vehicles being used to block the roads licensed. Perhaps the abuse of a truck in this way should mean the withdrawal of the hauliers license.
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Nobody has the right to park on a road. We have the right to enter, pass along, and exit public roads. If they are parked obstructing traffic they are committing an offence and should be sanctioned accordingly.
 
I heard the leader of the Irish Road Haulier Association a couple weeks back on radio. He was very positive about his association and government coming to a satisfactory arrangement that would assist in dealing with high prices. So I was surprised that when this protest started that it had come to this. However, I now see the IRHA have nothing to do with this protest and are currently negotiating with government in good faith as matters progress. It's not clear if IRHA members are participating in this protest of their own volition.

cremeegg said:
I think this is the most mean spirited protest we have seen in Ireland in my memory.
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I would agree with this, but not necessarily the rest of your post.
People have a right to protest if they feel a genuine grievance and for the most part these drivers obviously feel aggrieved.

However, it is the absence of leadership from the protesters that to me points to something more sinister.

Minister Browne has alluded to it in earlier comments "the wrong people will be brought to court", and Minister Callaghan has warned of "outside actors".
When I see people like Eddie Hobbs appearing, comments from Independent Ireland, and tweets from Tommy Robinson supporting and advocating the protests then I do fear that these drivers are being manipulated into this nuclear option. And not just because of fuel prices, but anti-immigration sentiment, anti-EU, as well.

I think the government should call their bluff and call on their 'leaders' to come forward and meet on condition that the protest is called off immediately.
If there are genuine cases of hardship (I dont doubt that there are some) they may be addressed in a meaningful way. But I suspect a wishlist of anti-immigrant sentiment, shortage of housing, etc will also emerge that has nothing to do with the issues at hand.

I'd be fully on the side of government here. However calls for water-canons, ending subsidies, de-licensing is knee-jerk reaction and only add fuel to flames, which is exactly what Tommy Robinson, Independent Ireland and anti-EU, anti-immigration want.

Call out their leaders to meet and end the protest. A light can then be shown on the sinister elements that I now believing have manipulated the situation for reasons far beyond the price of fuel.
 
If a Licensed Haulier obstructs your use of any public road I suggest that you write to object to their Road hauliers license, licensed persons must be of good repute, clearlyy if the are blocking they road then they are not of good repute. The address is as follows

Road Transport Operators Licensing (RTOL)
Department of Transport
Clonfert House
Bride Street
Loughrea
Co Galway

H62 ET93
 
Purple said:
That's right, take everything to its literal extreme. That's how you have a constructive discussion.
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Purple, when I said "all" disputes end in meeting and negotiation you took it to it's literal extreme to include wars. Lets not go down that road. I'm of the view that people are entitled to protest if they feel aggrieved (whether I agree with the premise of the grievance or not).

I'm not in favour of this nuclear option that they have chosen and I suspect there is a sinister element with ulterior motives involved in prompting this course of action.
 
I just saw a clip of Jim O'Callaghan blaming "actors" including the likes of Tommy Robinson for "manipulating" the protests. This is cringe territory and especially surprising given that J O'C is usually a man of carefully-constructed comments on controversial topics. Robinson will be absolutely thrilled to learn that he has so much influence in Ireland.

Well played Jim...
 
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Meeting with representative groups tomorrow at Govt buildings. Very ropey as to who is attending and on whose behalf, but the protest on O'Connell Bridge is wound down and fuel from refineries is released.
 
Howth Head said:
I just saw a clip of Jim O'Callaghan blaming "actors" including the likes of Tommy Robinson for "manipulating" the protests. This is cringe territory and especially surprising given that J O'C is usually a man of carefully-constructed comments on controversial topics. Robinson will be absolutely thrilled to learn that he has so much influence in Ireland.

Well played Jim...
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Are you saying that O'Callaghan is incorrect in his claim? Or that he shouldn't be talking about Robinson? Or something else?
 
That is correct @odyssey06 . I got my information from one of the so-called 'leaders' of the protest who also proclaimed that he had been invited to meet with govt today. Hence, the unwinding of some protests.

That claim of his attendance at a meeting has had some cold-water poured on it since from various factions.

Which points to the issue of who is actually leading these protests?
 
Sister Sara said:
Which points to the issue of who is actually leading these protests?
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Nobody. It is a mob. The Government should not talk to them or validate their actions. They are of the same ilk as the anti immigration protesters. Those among them who do not share those views should go home.

The IFA and the Road Haulage Association are the organisations which the State is an should be engaging with.
 
Sister Sara said:
I'm not proposing anything other than government should intervene to meet with the organisers in order to bring the protests to a swift end.
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They will be meeting today.

Protests have not ended. Roads are still blocked. Oil depots still blockaded. No swift end has happened.

In my book this is bullying. "Give me what i want or i strangle the hostage" is not negotiating.

Seems like there's more to this protest than simply fuel costs. Who is benefiting by disrupting the nation?

My sister-in-law was very distressed about not being able to get to a hospital on time in Dublin for chemo.

I can sympathise with the issue of high fuel costs but these protests, in this form, are a disgrace as they impact people who are not involved and dont target the people who caused the problem - US and Iran.
 
redstar said:
They will be meeting today.
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Thats what I thought. But govt ministers have said they are only meeting with officially recognised representative bodies and the IHRA, IFA, ICSMA etc have said only their members will be attending the meetings.

I am sure there must be some back-channel communications but at the same time, it does appear to be a disparate group of protesters. They may have legitimate concerns over the price of fuel but from listening to some of them I have heard of complaints of govt money going to Ukraine, immigration, Scoliosis operations, Roma gypsies, housing, unsafe streets, and Islam!
 
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Purple said:
The Government should not talk to them or validate their actions. They are of the same ilk as the anti immigration protesters.
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I would dispute talking to them is a validation of their actions. It really doesnt matter what 'ilk' they are, they are energised enough now to potentially grind the economy to a halt.

The imperative is to get them to call off the protest.

Secondary to that is hear their demands, grievances etc and to see if there is a means to addressing any legitimate, reasonable grievances they may have.
A means to addressing any legitimate or reasonable grievance would be for the officially recognised bodies, IHRA, IFA, ICSMA to take on board some of these grievances for the protestors.

A wishlist of capping green diesel, white diesel, abolishing carbon tax let alone dealing with other issues of immigration, housing are neither legitimate or reasonable.

In the meantime, the imperative is call off the protest. Only it is not clear who amongst the protestors has the clout to call it off. One 'leader' said last night that word had been sent to open fuel refineries, by this morning it was apparent that this did not occur.
 
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