HAULIER Michael Horan fears his century-old family business may be reaching its end.<\/strong><\/p>\n Since the Iran War, his diesel bill to run five lorries delivering grain across Ireland \u2013 which requires 15,000 liters of fuel per month \u2013 has risen by more than \u00a36,500.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tsign up for Sun<\/span> Newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThank you!\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe’re barely surviving,\u201d the father of two tells me. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are on the floor. <\/p>\n “There is no future in this business.”<\/p>\n Shaking his head, he blames the steep tax rates \u2013 which also include green fees \u2013 which account for almost half the cost of a tank of diesel.<\/p>\n ‘back to life’<\/p>\n Killed Russian soldiers are ‘resurrected’ in terrifying AI farewell video<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n expensive pieces<\/p>\n Influencer fined six points for feeding birds on boat with friends<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n That’s why the Irishman joins hundreds of other haulers, farmers, coach drivers, contractors and more Motorists paralyze Ireland at protests<\/a> In the last week.<\/p>\n angry protesters<\/a> blockaded Whitegate Oil Refinery in Cork<\/a>Picketed at ports and caused retreat on motorways with convoys of tractors.<\/p>\n Holidaymakers were forced to walk down the hard shoulder of the M50 with their suitcases after protesters blocked the motorway. dublin airport<\/a>.<\/p>\n O’Connell Street<\/a> The center of the capital was blocked off by HGVs and tractors carrying signs saying No Fuel, No Food and Can’t Afford to Move.<\/p>\n Farming contractor Christopher Duffy told fuel protesters in Dublin: “The country is ours.”<\/p>\n Irish government panicked<\/a> Army called before announcing tax cut on petrol and diesel.<\/p>\n Now British farmers are threatening to fuel protests unless Chancellor Rachel Reeves cuts taxes.<\/p>\n William Taylor, coordinator of UK Farmers for Action, anticipated the British fuel protests of 2000 when farmers blockaded the country’s six largest refineries.<\/p>\n Farmer said: \u201cFarmers for Action was born out of the 2000 fuel strike, where Britain was brought to a standstill for five days until the government was heard. <\/p>\n “Got to learn a lot.”<\/p>\n Howard Cox, founder of lobby group FairFuelUK, said the British demos would not target fuel depots or block roads.<\/p>\n Reform\u2019s 2024 candidate for London mayor said: \u201cI have been discussing organizing fuel protests across the UK.<\/p>\n \u201cThey will be peaceful demonstrations by farmers, small businesses, taxi drivers and motorists who are being punished by Rachel Reeves’s inaction to help motorists during a life-threatening crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n shock waves<\/a> The Iran war is now echoing across the green fields of County Kildare in the Middle East, 3,700 miles away from the Dust Bowl.<\/p>\n In this delightful patchwork of thoroughbred stud paddocks and cattle pastures, many people have been radicalized in what they call the fight for their livelihood. <\/p>\n John Dallon, a 61-year-old farmer and agricultural contractor, has been one of the most prominent voices in the protests that began on April 7.<\/p>\n John, who raises beef cattle in Crookstown, County Kildare, told me: \u201cWe don\u2019t know where the price of diesel is going to end up.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is increasing. <\/p>\n \u201cThe cost of living is skyrocketing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is affecting people from the agricultural sector to the haulage sector, the building industry and the bus companies that transport children to school.<\/p>\n “The people of this country are pleading with the government to save our economy.”<\/p>\n Irish protests<\/a> It has been compared to the gilets jaunes (yellow vest) grassroots fueled demonstrations that rocked France in 2018.<\/p>\n John, a fourth-generation beef farmer, says of his new campaign enthusiasm: \u201cI’m not a political person, but I’ve become very angry at the way our government is run. <\/p>\n \u201cThey are cut off from the common people.\u201d<\/p>\n He also feared Demos would migrate across the Irish Sea because English farmers are “under atrocious pressure”.<\/p>\n And he said the British government needed to remember that “farmers are the people who put food on the table three times a day”.<\/p>\n There seems to be little chance of the global fuel crisis abating. <\/p>\n On Monday the US announced it would block Iranian ports after the mullahs closed the Strait of Hormuz to most shipping.<\/p>\n Oil has risen to more than $100 a barrel and prices at the fuel pump have soared around the world.<\/p>\n Rural Ireland \u2013 which relies on diesel for its tractors and lorries as well as kerosene to heat many remote homes \u2013 began to falter as diesel prices<\/a> There was an increase of more than 20 percent.<\/p>\n Any increase in prices means more tax revenue for the Irish exchequer.<\/p>\n\n
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