Fuel protests lead to key vote in Irish parliament
Tanaiste (deputy prime minister) Simon Harris said other governments and other executives - such as the one in Northern Ireland - have not responded to economic shocks like the Irish government has."We entered 2026 from relative economic strength. We expect the Irish economy to grow, albeit at a slower pace than before expected."He also hit out at the opposition, particularly Sinn Féin, who heckled him from the opposition benches.He said "nobody in this Republic" gets the right to restrict the movement "of anybody else".The Sinn Féin leader, who is the leader of the opposition in the Dáil, Mary Lou McDonald, called for a general election, saying it was the government's "time to go".McDonald said the government "refused and refuses to listen" and had acted to "inflame an already desperate situation"."Your time is up. All of this didn't start last week. The seeds were sown in your Budget last October,' she said.She criticised the Dáil not sitting for 20 days during the Easter break, saying the taoiseach is "completely out of touch".She said people everywhere were calling for "real action" and "real leadership".The party's finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty said there had been "no real leadership" from the government on fuel costs.He said the Irish government's "instinct" was not to help struggling people who decided to protest last week but to "threaten them".
