All major routes across the motorway network are clear this evening, with delays cleared following disruption in some areas this morning.
TII Traffic has urged all commuters to check traffic.tii.ie for live updates.
There are no significant delays on Dublin’s M50 in either direction this evening in what is a welcome change for commuters.
A week of protests brought Dublin city centre to a standstill and crippled road networks, with the Government to face a no confidence motion when the Dáil returns tomorrow.
FUEL DELIVERIES ACROSS COUNTRY RAMPING UP
Speaking today, Fuels for Ireland CEO, Kevin McPartlan, said that fuel deliveries across the country were “ramping up” – however there remain around 650 forecourts without fuel.
“We got out about slightly over 100 trucks out of Whitegate (oil refinery in Cork) yesterday, we got more than that out before 10 o’clock this morning, so yes we’re really ramping it up”, Mr McPartlan told RTÉ News.
“We haven’t quite got to the normal levels of operational efficiency for the distribution, that’s because of the continuing traffic disruption, (but) that has improved an awful lot today”, Mr McPartlan added.
The Fuels for Ireland boss continued:”So we’re hoping now that tomorrow will be really at full efficiency from all of the three sites that were blockaded,” he said.
FF MEETING LASTS MORE THAN FOUR HOURS
A meeting of the Fianna Fáil party concluded this evening, having lasted more than four hours. The meeting heard TDs and Senators call for a listening ear to be adopted by the government in relation to concerns around decent people struggling to pay their energy bills.
The meeting further heard frustrations voiced at the Government’s handling of the events of last week.
Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan, who was present at the meeting, sought to explain his statement in which he suggested that the army was about to be deployed at a number of protests. Mr O’Callaghan told the meeting that the role of the defence forces was in fact limited to tow trucks.
Ahead of tomorrow’s vote, triggered by a Sinn Fein motion, three Independent government-supporting TDs – Danny Healy-Rae, Gillian Toole, and Barry Heneghan – have all said that they are weighing things up, declining to confirm if they will support the government in that vote.
GOVT HAS SUFFICIENT MAJORITY TO WIN VOTE
The Government has a sufficient majority to win the confidence motion tomorrow. However, speaking tonight, TD Peadar Tóibín said that the eight Government-supporting Independent TDs had questions to ask themselves ahead of tomorrow’s vote.
He said that Simon Harris and Micheal Martin were continuing to “talk down to protestors.”
Speaking on RTE Drivetime this evening, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín asked why the Government “had to wait seven days” before announcing a €550 million package of supports on Sunday.
Mr Tóibín referred to the fact that over a third of the country’s fuel stations are empty, adding that there had not been such a level of civil unrest since protests over water charges.
Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher told RTE’s DriveTime on Monday evening that he had spoken to protestors on the frontline.
KELLEHER: BLOCKADES COULD DO DETRIMENTAL DAMAGE TO IRELAND’S REPUTATION
“Protest is fine, and I mean, I’ve spoken to protestors on the front line. I’ve spoken to TDs who have met with protestors, and nobody has any difficulty with people protesting,” he claimed.
“We’ve all done it and we all support that right, but the issue of blockading strategic infrastructure that could do detrimental damage to the broader economy, the reputation of the country, and people’s livelihoods, is something that the Government had to act on,” said the MEP.
Mr Tóibín agreed that “we don’t want to see blockades happening,” but added that the way to make that happen was to “make sure that the Government talks to citizens, and also that we don’t have tax-gouging in this country like has been happening for the last number of months.”
He said that the government parties along with the Independents propping up the government had “brought this country to the brink” through their “stubbornness.”
“The petrol pumps are running dry for the first time since the 1980s,” he said. “I haven’t seen this level of civil unrest since the water charges. And if you want to know the cause of it, it’s the arrogance of this government,” he claimed.
“A government with a little bit of common sense would, on the first day [of the protests] have sat down with these individuals, discuss their needs, and try to come to a resolve.”
The TD said his party had been calling for a postponement of the carbon tax increase in May “for a long period of time.”
“The government said it couldn’t happen – it is happening. We were calling for the extension of the rebate scheme to all diesel dependent businesses. The government said it couldn’t happen. It is now happening. It doesn’t go far enough. There are problems in terms of 2.4 for green diesel when it’s increased by about 80%.”
“We have a situation at the moment where the majority of the price of fuel are taxes, and in a price surge crisis that we’re in at the moment, it is immoral for the government to tax at such a high level, a staple good. We are not talking about a luxury good; we’re talking about a good that people have no alternative with.”
The TD said that a protest is to take place outside Leinster House on Tuesday evening to coincide with the motion of confidence vote.
It comes after a weekend poll revealed high levels of public support for fuel protestors. A poll for the Sunday Independent by Ireland Thinks showed that of the 1,000 voters polled, 56 per cent supported the actions of the protestors, with 38 per cent opposed.
Asked who or what is most to blame for the disruption, 46 per vent said the Government, 28 per cent said the US war in Iran, and 26 per cent said the protestors. 78 per cent of Independent voters backed the protestors.