Could they happen in the UK?

Dublin’s roads are gripped by fuel demonstrations, with protests blocking the country’s busiest motorway near the airport.

Ireland has been embroiled in widespread protests since Tuesday after hauliers and agricultural workers blocked motorways and fuel depots on the coast.

It has raised concern over critical supplies like medicines and the situation for frontline workers, while travel to hubs like Dublin Airport has been upended after major queues stretching for miles.

Now over 100 petrol stations are running dry after the ongoing action.

The situation has become so inflamed that the Irish Defence Forces are said to have been placed on standby and ready to clear blockades.

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Some fuel has been trickling through from the affected ports and refineries, including from Foynes Port, where a convoy of fuel HGVs were released and intended for front-line workers and hospitals.

The action by hauliers, farmers, and coach and taxi drivers was sparked the sky-high petrol and diesel prices due to the uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil passage.

The organisation of the protests is shrouded in mystery and it remains unclear who, if any, are the leaders, with action being organised on social media channels without oversight.

The standstills and road closures have had heartbreaking consequences for some after missed hospital appointments.

Tony O’Rourke, a retired firefighter, said his terminally ill wife missed a radiation treatment because of a blockade.

Traffic on the M50 outside Dublin Airport ground to a halt today, forcing passengers to walk with their suitcases the rest of the way after tractor and truck blockages.

The airport told passengers to allow extra time for journeys due to protest activity wreaking havoc on nearby roads.

Courier giant DPD said it will temporarily suspend services in Ireland from tomorrow due to the fuel protest disruption.

Latest UK petrol and diesel prices

Oil and fuel prices remain high – despite the news of the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the fragile US-Iran ceasefire giving a glimmer of hope for stressed-out motorists on Wednesday.

However, since then, major cracks have appeared in the truce and oil shipments have not returned to normal as transit through the Strait remains restricted by Iran.

Petrol in the UK now costs 158.16p a litre on average, while diesel is at a record-high 191.31p, although retail prices may vary between forecourts.

Motoring expert RAC’s head of policy Simon Williams said that average fuel prices have risen every day for the last 40 days since the Iran war started.

He said: ‘A full tank of diesel for a 55-litre family car is now £105.22, up £27 since the end of February.

The cost for a similar petrol car is now £87, £14 more than it was before the conflict began.

‘More positively, as we predicted earlier this week, the rate of price increases has slowed due to oil falling back below $100 for the last two days.

‘This has reduced wholesale costs which should, if sustained, lead to the price of petrol coming down.

So, as things stand, we really shouldn’t see unleaded rise any further for the time being and the record diesel price of 199p now shouldn’t be surpassed.’
In comparison, fuel at Ireland’s forecourts now costs around 193.9 cents for petrol, and 218.9 cents for diesel.

What caused the fuel protests?

The protesters are calling for the Irish government to take action, or many will be pushed out of business.

Professional drivers want a cut in fuel prices, while some are also calling for measures like VAT reduction to bring down prices, and a price cap.

While the convoys include farmers and hauliers, the Irish Road Haulage Association or the Irish Farmers’ Association are not involved.

Ireland’s transport minister Darragh O’Brien warned that the blockades ‘need to end now,’ adding that the government doesn’t want to ‘deal with this situation in a heavy-handed way and I don’t think that will happen.’

Could fuel protests happen in the UK?

Some social media posts in UK-based Facebook groups have called for similar action, but there doesn’t seem to be any coordination for protests.

The latest bout of significant protest was in 2022 after the Ukraine war caused fuel prices to shoot up, and there was some action in 2005 and 2007.

The most notorious fuel protests were in 2000, when Britain was brought to its knees for a week after angry truckers and farmers took action that saw petrol pumps and supermarkets run low.

Matthew Paterson, a professor of international politics at the University of Manchester who has researched the naughties fuel protests, told Metro previously that motoring continues to be ‘an obviously flashpoint’ for possible future protests.

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