Disruption from nationwide fuel protests continues into night

By Bairbre Holmes, Press Association

Disruption from a protest against rising fuel prices continued into Tuesday night across the country.

On Tuesday morning, demonstrators driving tractors, lorries and trucks formed slow-moving convoys in a number of counties.

Several of the convoys converged on Dublin city centre and a rally was held on O’Connell Street at 3pm.

Speaking at the event one of the organisers, James Geoghegan, said 28 different protests had taken place across the country.

A large number of the vehicles remained in the city centre on Tuesday night and gardaí said the protest was having a “significant impact” on traffic, including on the north and south quays.

Other routes around the city were also impacted including the Naas road, the Red Cow Interchange and sections of the M50, they said.

Gardaí also said there were slow-moving convoys and significant traffic delays reported on the M8 in Co Tipperary and on the M18 in Co Clare.

Public transport was also affected in Dublin, from around 8pm the green Luas line was suspended in the city centre.

In a post on social media site X the tram operator said this was a result of “a protest march blocking the tracks at O’Connell Bridge”.

Green line trams are currently not operating between Beechwood and Dominic due to a protest march blocking the tracks at O'Connell Bridge. Apologies for any inconvenience caused @TFIupdates

— Luas (@Luas) April 7, 2026

Dublin Bus also said its services were experiencing “severe disruption” in the city centre on Tuesday night.

Speaking about the protests on Tuesday evening, Tánaiste Simon Harris said: “Everyone has a right to protest in a democracy, 100 per cent no doubt about that, but I would also just say these aren’t consequence-free actions.”

He said he had heard reports of a range of individuals impacted by the disruption, including healthcare workers and small business owners.

Harris said: “We shouldn’t pit sectors against sectors.

“This is a moment of national challenge, and no one sector is more important than the other, and we have to work through this.”

He said the Government was “engaging intensively” with bodies representing a variety of sectors including farmers, farm contractors and hauliers.