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SPECIAL REPORT EXCLUSIVE: Gardai Shut Down Dublin Fuel Protest | EP 69 Fuel protest spokesman John Dallon condemned what he described as a heavy-handed overnight response to a peaceful demonstration by farmers, truckers and contractors, saying young people were left “frightened” and protesters were treated “like animals.” He insists the movement is simply fighting to save Ireland’s economy from soaring fuel costs, accusing the government of refusing to engage in dialogue and ignoring ordinary workers, now urging the public to decide the country’s future as frustration reaches a boiling point.

“𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝. 𝐔𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝟏𝟗𝟏𝟔, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐧𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝. 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐧𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐬. 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭. 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐥𝐥-𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧'𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞. 𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲𝐫𝐬,” 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐬 In a superb opinion piece in today’s Sunday independent, former minister, Shane Ross based on his own personal experience says the Government only talks to the “usual crowd” when there’s a problem — big groups like Ibec, ICTU, the Irish Road Haulage Association and the Irish Farmers’ Association. These are the insiders. They’ve been dealing with governments for years, and there’s a well worn way of doing things. There’s usually a bit of drama, then talks behind closed doors, and in the end a deal is done that was more or less expected all along. The fuel protesters didn’t fit into that system. They weren’t part of those groups and didn’t trust them. So they were shut out. Instead of adapting, the Government stuck to the old way of doing things. They refused to talk directly to the protesters. Even when protesters said they would calm things down if someone just picked up the phone, the Government still wouldn’t engage. At the same time, ministers talked tough, even hinting at using the army, which made things worse. Then, in the end, the Government sat down with the usual insider groups and made concessions through them. Those groups will get the credit, even though it was the protesters who forced the issue in the first place. “The final move in the game was for ministers to invite the insiders back to the table on Friday afternoon. Once again, the establishment excluded the protesters, but cleverly made concessions to the insiders, who were too passive to have demanded them in the first place. The "representative organisations”, specifically the IRHA and the IFA, could then emerge to a waiting media and claim to have extracted further significant compromises from the Government. The protesters would be sidelined — outmanoeuvred spectators, maybe victorious, but deprived of all the credit. The truth is the terms on the table yesterday would never have been offered without them.” Ross says this is how the system always works. It’s almost like a script. Everyone knows their role, and ministers often stay back and let it play out instead of stepping in. His main point is simple: this approach doesn’t work when ordinary people organise themselves outside the system. By refusing to deal with them directly, the Government let the situation spiral. He warns that treating struggling people like enemies is dangerous and could make things much worse. In his view, the whole situation could have been calmed very easily — if a minister had just picked up the phone and talked to them. Ross concludes: “The Government's strategy of making pariahs out of somewhat chaotic but representative and — more importantly — peaceful activists has failed. The demonstrators are not demons but desperate citizens in search of salvation. Gradual government escalation of the conflict is dangerous. It is never too late for the Taoiseach to press the dialogue button.”