The protests in Ireland are not about just fuel! They are about the distance between Ireland on this graph and every other modern and developed economy. Ireland is second wealthiest but gets waaaaay less than any other country for that wealth. By a golden mile.
That visual gap in this graph? That’s what people are protesting. It’s a lack of infrastructure and the everyday enshittification of services, the economy, and the additional difficulty of trying to live, relative to peers in any other country. It also highlights why people don’t get uniformly listened to! - because there is no government architecture to engage meaningfully across this huge gap.
That gap is a three hour drive to work in traffic, a 14 month wait for an MRI, buses that don’t arrive, trains that don’t exist, schools that have no places for your kids, houses that are unaffordable, pubs that close before midnight, €12 sandwiches, expensive fuel.
People feel this gap, even if they can’t explain it precisely. And that builds into resentment, and ultimately protest. Fuel just happened to be the next thing that could be pointed to, today.
€40 million of Irish taxpayers' money sent to Ukraine while Irish families here fall into arrears on ESB, gas, rent or mortgages bills.
While Irish people can't afford to fill the car week to week, or even heat their homes properly.
While they put off going to the doctor because a €60 GP visit is now a luxury they can't afford.
While Irish parents are forced to choose between putting decent food on the table or keeping a roof over their children's heads week to week.
€40 million to Ukraine for more gold toilets while you're left picking between having good food to eat or keeping the roof over you and your childrens head or staying warm, or getting basic medical care.
This shouldn't be what adult life in Ireland looks like in 2026.
Priorities are completely backwards.
FFS, it seems like every time you step on a plane you're giving millions upon millions of Euro of Irish taxpayers money away. €330 million in 2025. €25 million to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund in January this year. And now an additional €40 million you've just announced. Would you ever think of staying home and saving us a fortune?
...in other news the people of Ireland have the highest electricity bills in Europe, no energy credits and live with the threat of power outages..it's a funny old world
Thats 400 new social houses.
A wipe out of the Scoliosis waiting list and back up services.
6 Primary Care centres.
2600 new nurses.
2600 new teachers.
Charity begins at home.
IGS President Dr. Emer Ahern’s letter to the editor published in @IrishTimes
“Older adults are entitled to the same dignity, autonomy and human rights as anyone else.”
Dignity and rights don’t expire with age.
@deirdrelanglang@ideoshaughnessy@galvin_rose@edelphysio
Hundreds of academic staff and other university workers have signed a letter expressing alarm at Cabinet's decision to remove the Triple Lock
https://t.co/oC82s8RPzR
In which instance were you lying @MichealMartinTD?
“The triple lock is the core of our neutrality”
“The triple lock has absolutely nothing to do with our military neutrality”
We have a housing crisis, a healthcare crisis, cost of living crisis, lack of school place crisis and Fine Gael’s Simon Harris is going to propose to give a further €100,000,000 aid to Ukraine. Complete and utter madness!
Doing my end of year taxes. Dietitians get to claim@coru costs but not physios. Nurses get €733 uniform expenses physio only €381 OTs only €217. @forsa surely a case to equalise these deductions from tax? Search flat-rate-expenses on https://t.co/UYEG2tdPjl
Delighted to present a virtual poster on the findings of a scoping review examining long-term cognitive impairment post-chemotherapy at #NRSIG2023 today!
@nrsigwfnr@GalwayOT
Great to see this in the Irish Times today about how Occupational Therapy can help more people to stay in work or return to the workplace. The article also highlights the value of Occupational Therapists working in GP practices
https://t.co/mOOLWpd3qq
@roinnslainte@CMOIreland@lieabh@chiefnurseIRE While I welcome the sentiments was there ever a more tangible manifestation that there is no Chief HSCP Officer in the Dept of Health.
I'm genuinely hurt
Radiographers Xraying COVID patients, MedLab Scientists analysing COVID tests to name just two-all forgotten
@DonnellyStephen