Martin rejected the protesters’ demands for a meeting, saying they did not represent any industry body and were trying to blackmail the government. It would set a dangerous precedent, he said, particularly given that the government last month already cut tax on petrol and diesel by 15 cents and 20 cents per liter, respectively.
“The gun cannot be put to the head of government, any government, in this manner,” Martin said, noting how the protesters were refusing to reopen O’Connell Street unless they could gain access to his own Government Buildings office.
“Everybody will be doing that every week,” he forecast. “The way to get a meeting now [would be] just to walk up with a couple of lorries, block motorways, block city centers, and you’ve got to talk to us now.”
The center-right government’s refusal to meet the protesters, and its decision to deploy the army instead, drew scorn from opposition leaders across the political spectrum. The main opposition Sinn Féin party, which seeks steeper cuts on fuel taxes, wants parliament to be recalled from its current three-week Easter recess.
Crucially, the Irish Defence Forces have a mixed fleet of Swedish and Italian heavy-lift trucks that are designed to pick up and deliver heavy armored vehicles. These are expected to be used to hoist the protesters’ vehicles off the roads if they don’t voluntarily remove them.
O’Callaghan, the justice minister, said any truckers or farmers who do not comply with police orders “should not complain later about any damage caused to those vehicles during removal.”