Despite media spin, Poll shows big majority support fuel protest
You can’t say the government and their media allies didn’t try hard enough to smear and attack the fuel protests, but this morning’s poll shows a big majority of Irish people supporting the fuel protesters who have been shamefully treated by the state.
Despite the disruptions all this week, 56% of people told pollsters Ireland Thinks that they agreed with the actions of the fuel protesters while just 38% disagreed.
When don’t knows are excluded, that leaves almost 60% of respondents backing the small businesses, farmers, hauliers and contractors who say they acted out of desperation because the taxes added to the global spiralling fuel prices are crippling their ability to survive.
What’s more, far more of those polled (46%) blamed the Government for the disruption as opposed to finding fault with the protesters (24%).
And just 16% thought the Government should not give in to the protesters’ demands – while 64% sought either a cap on the price of fuel (41%) or changes to carbon tax (23%).
Interestingly, support for the protesters is “overwhelming among backers of Independent Ireland, Aontú and Sinn Féin, with 78pc of independent voters also backing the protests.”
But just “one fifth (18pc) of Fine Gael voters back the protests, with just 14pc of Fianna Fáil voters supporting them.”
From the Sunday Independent this morning:
[A]n exclusive poll conducted for the Sunday Independent by Ireland Thinks has found big public support the protesters’ actions.
With garage forecourt pumps running dry, more than half of respondents strongly backed the nationwide fuel protests in what is a blow to the Government as it races to finalise a multi-million-euro support package to ease tensions across the country.
The Government’s “arrogant” refusal to meet with the protesters is being seen as badly backfiring, with criticism coming from Opposition politicians in addition to the Lifeline Ambulance Services and others.
However an Tánaiste and the rest of the Cabinet might want to spin this, it is obvious that they are being forced to back down even as they employ Gardaí and Public Order Units to drag people off tractors and away from blockades. These are the actions of a government deeply disconnected from voters and out of touch with the majority of the public. The Independent says:
Measures being finalised by the Government include a temporary fuel support scheme for farmers, hauliers and contractors most affected by the recent spike in fuel costs.
The scheme is expected to be targeted at those directly involved in food supply chains, such as farmers, hauliers, fisheries and agri-businesses, with direct payments to be introduced under the plan.
The thousands of protesters who took part in demonstrations and blockades this week, and who had to face threats of the Army being mobilised against them, should take heart in knowing that the public support their actions, despite the choreograpged political and media campaign against them.
They should also know that they have now sparked a national conversation on carbon and fuel taxes – and punched a giant hole in the the false narrative that these measures are inevitable and immutable even if great hardship and economic decline comes with obeying EU mandates and pursuing impossible Green targets.
