I don't think they do know. They have thought nothing through, are drunk with power, loving every minute of it and because the fash are running around slapping their backs think they have popular support. They are at the asking for ponies stage.

Lads, these are petty-bourgeois business owners. They might talk as though they are working class, but they're literally sitting on hundreds of thousands of Euros of capital. You don't need to cosy up to them because they're claiming to be advocating for the poor, they're only out for themselves

The country has been held to ransom by some fucking facebook group nutters since Tuesday morning and this is the response from government? Jaysus wept!

This fella is one of the nominated representatives of the protest group. Should the government meet with him, do you think?

“WE ARE GOING to put a gun to the government’s head” -a fuel protest organiser A price cap is an unquantifiable state subsidy in perpetuity Lots of interests want state support We can’t decide our national finances based on who has a gun - on who owns 15 ton truck & can hold the country to ransom

An interesting report today on the Garda response to an attept by a pro-Palestinian group to march to Dublin Port. Just by way of a compare and contrast. www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/20...

If the protestors don’t root out the fascists then I’m very comfortable with them being tarred with the same brush

Really something to see folks from such a highly subsidised sector set up blockades to claim more subsidies #SpeirGorm www.rte.ie/news/ireland...

I'm >15 years warning Irish politicians, media houses and journalists of the dangers posed by the far right, and not one of them has ever bothered to listen to me, instead choosing to make the same mistakes as every other European country Spoiler: It's going to get much, much worse. #speirgorm

Look there are a lot of complex factors that have led to the far right to be as powerful and influential a social force as they are right now but it's Facebook this is all Facebook why Meta's servers haven't been burnt out of the fucking earth will be an eternal mystery to me

This isn't a farmer's protest. And it isn't organic. They're paying for adverts. Every spokesman (and they're all men) for the protests is either a contractor, works in haulage, or some kind of automotive service, and some are social media influencers. Actual farmers are really busy in the spring.

A Brazilian delivery driver, a French chef, and a Filipino nurse were the first to jump in and help during the Parnell square attack. We're not forgetting that. But then again, most of us don't have racist brain rot.

EU Countries where petrol is more expensive than Ireland: Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal. And heating oil you ask: Austria, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Sweden. You know, just for some perspective. energy.ec.europa.eu/data-and-ana...

"To put it bluntly, an X post today receives less than 3% of the views a single tweet delivered seven years ago." If you think it is necessary to be on Twitter to communicate your fact-based worldview, the reality is that worldview is being smothered.

Irish far-right are making speeches about migrants at their fuel protests.. meanwhile: 'Ireland’s energy-hungry datacentres consumed more electricity last year than all its urban homes combined, according to official figures.' Amazon AWS, Google, Equinix, Microsoft, Digital Realty, Edge Connex..

Ireland still has a habit of framing environmental concerns as softies like myself caring too much about the snails that live where people want to build a motorway. The truth is we need environmental protection to ensure our country remains habitable - for us. #spéirgorm

In case anyone hasn’t seen them in person, quite a few of the trucks on O’Connell street are covered in tricolours and it’s not because they support the women’s soccer team. The “take back our country” placard doesn’t mean “from the grey squirrels”.

How Britain, the US and the oil industry broke Iran

this isn't a protest campaign, and it doesn't have reps, it's a series of barely coordinated wildcat actions. no one person or group is even in a position to stand this down if they were given a meeting

I fully support people's right to protest but I don't support far right bullshit pretending to be about farmers and hauliers and I can't recall another protest ever being allowed to bring the city to a halt for 36 hours and still going without any consequences whatsoever

Yes, as you may have gathered, I'm pissed off. And I'm a Culchie. Imagine the reaction if a bunch of Dubliners went down to Mayo and caused chaos for the locals for 36 hours (and counting...) cos Donald Trump bombed Iran 🙄

Significant that this post has no likes, no re-posts, but 13 previous quote-posts, every one of which is rightly critical to varying degrees of the bs 'we put the food on the table' narrative. It's time for a mature national conversation about nature loss, climate breakdown, and REAL food security.

It’s not a traffic disruption - it’s an illegal blockade of a national road that the Irish government refuse to police as they would any other illegal blockade - @garda.ie

Dublin City Centre has been shut down for going on 36hrs now and there are groups of Gardai standing around just looking at the machinery parked across the streets cos apparently people can do anything they want whenever they want now as long as they pretend they represent farmers. It's bizarre

Since 1973, Irish agriculture has received net transfers from the EU of close to €40 BILLION, dragging the entire sector out of poverty. Doubly sickening to see a recipient of this taxpayer largesse lecture anyone on “looking after our own people first”

“The situation is so desperate for us that we’ve taken 4 days off work, and I’ve driven my €80k+ 3 year old tractor to Dublin to protest”. Do think these lads may have peaked far too early in the crisis. They’ve got one card, and they’ve played it…

“Surelookit, we’re the ones digging spuds, carrying them to market and selling them to the housewives, bucks stops at home, never mind the €2B in EU subsidies our industry gets, and how 80% of what we produce is exported, the buck stops at home, which is why we’re demanding more of them”

You might not like the IFA etc but there are 5 LEGITIMATE farm orgs. None of them endorsed or involved themselves in this. So lads like this fella put themselves forward of leaders. Lads who are chronically online. We've been here before, in 2019. It was a Facebook organised event that led nowhere

For a group who are so interested in looking after our own people, it's odd that I have never seen a tractor at a housing march or a protest for fair healthcare or in response to social welfare cuts.

Right folks as one of the few farmers on here let me explain something really simple. We're currently in the busiest time of year, calving & lambing is ongoing and crops need tending The awful weather means contractors are also flat out So how representative do you think this lad is? #speirgorm

When unions and left groups organised cost of living marches, farmers and small buisness owners were nowhere to be seen. They wouldn't be capable of considering solidarity for a fleeting second. Ireland is there for them and them only. Everyone elses role is to work their poverty wages.

Small farmers are the human shields that the IFA use, but all their members are the big farmers and the associated agrifood industry, and that's all they'll lobby for. I don't think they even did a press release for the Lismore sheep farmers that that English duke is shafting.

I 100% support the right to protest but the difference in how these (mostly) rural men are treated by the authorities compared to students/young & working class people/anti-eviction protesters is absolutely galling.

There is something very bleak about the threat of annihilation of an entire country filtered disproportionately through the lens of the cost of petrol and diesel. The energy crisis is real and serious but so is the threat to our shared humanity. www.rte.ie/news/ireland...

responding to the looming risk of a catastrophic disruption to global supply chains that could last for months if not years by shutting down the national road network to demand tax cuts is a more cutting indictment of the pettiness of Irish politics than I could ever write

Ah, yes: the mask slips immediately. We need to talk about far-right radicalisation in rural Ireland, seriously and urgently. #spéirghorm #ireland

It is telling who is allowed to protest like this with no consequences at all.

Just going to leave this here.

When the US admits that they killed any “military-aged men” who walked within 3km of a downed pilot they mean any boy lanky enough to be a teenager and any middle-aged man able to walk unaided with a cane got shot in the head for the crime of walking.

1. "Here's an extreme idea. We're platforming it, so that people can watch out." 2. "This idea is gaining traction. We're publishing an op-ed in favour, for balance." 3. "This idea is popular now. Why does the left refuse to consider it?"

It’s time for my favorite cartoon of the year.

"The worst thing we can do is convince ourselves that change is no longer possible. Because that is the real trap. Not failure, but resignation." If you're need of a bit of hope, I recommend giving this Substack by @aislinnn.bsky.social a read!

Nostalgia at its purest. @wilwheaton.net

Francesca Albanese has been a persistent voice of moral clarity in response to the Gaza genocide, and she is being targeted for her courage. Debanking—which consists of banks, payment platforms, and/or credit cards refusing to give you an account—is not an uncommon experience for critics of Israel.

Far-right tech oligarchs have the most pathetic ideology. They hate minorities, except when they are coding for them. They want no taxes, no rules, and absolutely no democracy. There is no grand vision for society, just raw greed and a relentless pursuit of personal interests

So it turns out the real scandal of the Gorton and Denton by-election was the willingness of media organisations to collude in Nigel Farage's attempt to undermine the result of a free and fair election www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/how-the-bb...

Democracy Volunteers the Election monitoring organisation that was the solitary source of the completely unsubstantiated “family voting” claim should be barred from acting as election monitors in the UK & EU. And need to be brought before a parliamentary committee to explain themselves.

just to be clear: Imane Khelif is *biologically* a woman. she's not a trans woman, the entire intellectual edifice of terfism is a completely capricious attempt to define anyone they don't like out of being a woman

This is why Daily Mail journalists are going after my family now. The right wing propaganda machine will not work on the Green Party. We're ready to end Rip off Britain, end the cost of living crisis and make hope normal again.

Ireland: Court of Appeal criticises citation of fake cases by party in defamation case. Gemma O'Doherty appeal fails. AI hallucinations identified. www2.courts.ie/acc/alfresco...