Authorities used force reopen the country's only refinery after days of disruption over petrol prices left fuel pumps dry and threatened emergency services.
https://p.dw.com/p/5C2UGPolice said arrests were made but did not say how many were detainedImage: An Garda Siochana/Handout/REUTERSAdvertisementPolice in Ireland on have used pepper spray and made arrests in a bid to clear protesters blockading the country's only oil refinery.
Authorities moved in to disperse the protesters to restore supplies after five days of nationwide demonstrations over soaring fuel prices.
Law enforcers, supported by armed forces personnel, moved in to reopen the Whitegate refinery in County Cork and escort fuel trucks on Saturday.
National broadcaster RTE posted a video showing several officers dragging a protester from a tractor.
After Ireland's Defence Forces joined the police in clearing the protests, Irish police chief Justin Kelly said on Saturday that the fuel protesters' actions were "endangering the state."
Kelly told reporters the blockading of "critical national infrastructure such as fuel depots and refineries" had "resulted in fuel shortages that are directly impacting on emergency services such as hospitals, the ambulance service, and the fire service."
"In the coming hours and days, we will have further such operations," he said.
The protests began on Tuesday over spiralling petrol and diesel prices due to the Middle East war.
Protesters, mostly truckers, farmers and transport operators, partly blockaded Ireland's only oil refinery and restricted access to at least two other fuel depots in Galway and Foynes, County Limerick.
This choked fuel distribution and shortages, threatening emergency services and freight movement.
"We can't continue to do business with the cost of fuel, cost of wages, everything,” protester Paddy Murray told RTE, adding that the government needs to step in to help.
The protests have also disrupted bus services nationwide and tram services in Dublin.
Fuels for Ireland chief executive Kevin McPartlan said about 600 of the 1,500 filling stations around the Republic of Ireland have run dry.
Disrupted by a fuel protest blockade, operations at the Irish Rail-run port were severely impacted. The port is nearing capacity, meaning ships may have to anchor offshore or divert, officials said.
Micheal Martin, Ireland's prime minister (known as the Taoiseach), has warned that the protests could force the country to turn away fuel shipments amid a global shortage. He called the situation "unconscionable, it's illogical, it is difficult to comprehend."
Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan said it was "unacceptable" that the protests have continued, even as fuel conditions have worsened.
"While we all acknowledge the impact of higher fuel prices, and seek to minimize that impact, no groups are entitled in our republic to hold our people to ransom in such a manner," he said.
The government's earlier measures, including tax cuts and rebates, failed to offset rising oil prices linked to conflict in the Middle East.
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