On the fourth consecutive day of nationwide fuel protests, the Government is set to hold talks today with representatives from farming groups, agricultural contractors, and the haulage sector in an effort to address the escalating crisis.
Confusion has emerged over whether fuel protesters themselves have been invited to attend. Representatives involved in go-slow convoys and blockades claim that some members from Dublin and Galway were asked to join the discussions. Spokesperson James Geoghegan said the invitation came via Fianna Fáil TD John Connolly, though Connolly has denied extending any such invitation.
The Government maintains that only recognised representative bodies have been asked to attend. Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee said engagement is continuing strictly through official organisations, and that these are the only groups participating in today’s talks.
Despite earlier suggestions from some demonstrators that blockades might end once discussions were arranged, Geoghegan confirmed that the protests will continue. Protesters have hardened their position, now insisting that both the carbon tax and excise duty be scrapped before trucks, tractors, vans and buses are withdrawn. Their demands also include removing the carbon tax on green diesel and introducing a cap on fuel prices.
Minister for Rural and Community Development Dara Calleary reiterated that invitations were extended strictly to recognised organisations, though he noted the Government would not object if protesters attended as part of those groups. “If protesters attend as representatives of farming organisations, we are not preventing that,” he said during an interview on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland. “Our focus is on meeting official bodies. We cannot engage directly with groups disrupting fuel supplies to communities and farms.”
Calleary stressed that ending the blockades is the Government’s top priority. “The central objective is to resolve these disruptions. We cannot allow a situation where fuel is available nationally but cannot reach the people who need it,” he said.
The meeting, scheduled for early this afternoon at the Department of Agriculture, was arranged late last night and will take place as a roundtable discussion. Representing the Government will be Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon, and Minister of State Timmy Dooley.
Attendees are expected to include farming organisations, the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA), and representatives of agricultural contractors, among others. Plans for separate virtual meetings were dropped in favour of this in-person gathering.
IRHA President Ger Hyland said he was unsure whether protesters would be present but confirmed that his organisation had offered to convey their concerns. “We engaged through intermediaries and proposed to bring the protesters’ issues forward as an impartial voice,” he said on Morning Ireland. “At this point, the priority is restoring normal movement across the country.”
He added that decisions regarding attendance ultimately rest with the Government. “It is not for us to decide who participates in a government meeting—that responsibility lies with the Government itself.”
