Irish government announces measures to ease fuel crisis after days of protests

Ireland's prime minister Micheal Martin has announced measures to ease the pressures of fast-rising fuel prices following major protests across the country.

There will be further reductions of duties on fuel and a delay in a carbon tax increase, Mr Martin said, in a package costing about 505m euro (£440m) - on top of 250m euro (£218m) worth of measures announced almost three weeks ago.

It comes after police in Dublin broke up a city centre blockade by fuel protesters during a late-night operation clearing tractors and trucks from the capital's main thoroughfare, O'Connell Street.

The Irish police service An Garda Siochana conducted a separate operation to clear another blockade at Galway docks, where a military vehicle nicknamed "the Beast" knocked down a makeshift barrier.

Mr Martin made the announcement on further measures on Sunday after holding an emergency cabinet meeting.

Demonstrations have brought much of Ireland to a standstill in the past week.

Largely led by truckers, farmers and agricultural workers, co-ordinated action began on Tuesday in a call for help to bring down fuel costs they say will drive people out of business.

The protests have strangled fuel distribution across Ireland and prompted an escalated police response that has resulted in several arrests and the deployment of public order units.

The overnight operation in Dublin came after officers on Saturday began cracking down on demonstrators at a refinery in County Cork, using pepper spray to help disperse them.

Irish Police Commissioner Justin Kelly said on Saturday that the blockades were "not a legitimate form of protest".

They have "resulted in fuel shortages that are directly impacting on emergency services such as hospitals, the ambulance service and the fire service, as well as businesses and the general public", he said.

"We gave the blockaders fair warning that we were moving to enforcement and they choose to ignore it and continue to hold the country to ransom," he added.

A farmer who has become a spokesperson for the Dublin group claimed they were "ambushed" overnight.

Christopher Duffy said they had to leave after police threatened to tow their vehicles.

"If they drag them with the engine not on they could wreck them," he said.

"So we have no choice, financially we have to move the vehicles."

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The move came as the Irish government was preparing to sign off on cost-cutting measures that it hopes will end the disruption on Sunday.

Government officials, who introduced measures to ease the burden of price rises two weeks ago, have been baffled by the protesters' rationale as the global price spike is due to the conflict in the Middle East.

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin called the blockades "illogical" and said the country was on the brink of turning tankers away at ports and losing its oil supply.

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