Young County Roscommon farmer and contractor says his 'back is against the wall'
Young Castlerea farmer and contractor Owen Hester pictured previously in Athlone at a protest over the Mercosur deal. Pic: Swarber Photography
A young County Roscommon farmer and contractor whose “back is against the wall” having seen the cost of filling his fuel tanks double, attended the recent fuel protest at the Galway Docks and is critical of the government’s handling of the situation.
Owen Hester from Castlerea was at the protests on the Wednesday night, Thursday night, Saturday morning and into Sunday. “When Micheál Martin came out and criticised the men and women who were out protesting, it really encouraged me to put work on hold and attend. All we were trying to do was protect our livelihoods. I can’t believe how we have been treated and villainised. The Government escalated it, none of us wanted to be there, we all had better things to be doing. But they wouldn’t listen.”
“The people who were there were all honest, and hard working. The way we were treated was nothing short of appalling,” Owen said. "I am very happy to say I stood with the people there on the bridge. And they should be very proud of themselves for standing up for the right thing." He said the situation got “completely out of control for no reason at all”.
“My back is against the wall. To fill my tanks with diesel in January was €2,200, it's now €4,250,” he said. “And in the work I am doing, I can’t pass that increase on. I know from running the farm at home that the margins aren’t in it for that extra money. I really don’t know what I am going to do,” he said.
He described the recent package of measures announced by the Government as “an absolute insult” and an attempt to divide the protesters. “Out of the €4,250 that I spend on fuel, I get €125 back,” he said.
“I can’t believe how we were villainised by RTÉ and the mainstream media for peacefully protesting about the real threat to our livelihoods,” he said.
“The Government are always spouting on about every other country and war and that there needs to be dialogue, but they turned the army on their own people. It wasn’t people in suits and ties that built the country, it was working people." He added that a huge amount of employment is dependent on the hauliers and agriculture sectors.
“The building sector is also massively under pressure, and they been forgotten about. So have people trying to heat their homes. That’s the biggest shame of all,” he said. “The money that has been squandered in this country would get us out of this problem.”
