Photograph: Patrick Logue
A convoy of protesting hauliers drove a convoy of trucks through Dublin city centre this morning in protest over rising fuel prices.
A slow-moving convoy of lorries from the northeast travelled from the Monaghan and Louth areas starting at about 6am and converged on the M1. It then travelled in procession to Dublin. At 8.45am the convoy of up to 60 trucks was in the area of the Dublin Port Tunnel works and at 9.40am was at the Point Depot
At 10am it passed through the city centre but gardaí, who escorted the trucks, said disruption was only minor.
The hauliers are an informal group, some of whom are individual members of the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA). They are calling on the Government to reduce excise duty on diesel for the haulage industry, following price increases of about 40 per cent so far this year.
One of the organisers of the protest, Sean Campbell, told ireland.com the industry was at "breaking point".
"The haulage industry has been very good to this country and now that the very industry that has helped this economy grow is in dire straits, we aer asking the Government to do something for us," he said.
Mr Campbell said the convoy would travel at a "normal speed" in both lanes of the M1 into Dublin. It will then go to Dublin Port, drive up the south quays and back up the north quays during rush-hour.
A number of hauliers have already staged protests, including one at Aughnacloy in Co Tyrone on the Border, last week.
At that protest, about 40 lorries from Northern Ireland and the Republic caused severe traffic disruption on the busy Border crossing between Co Monaghan and Co Tyrone.
"People are very angry about the situation," Jimmy Quinn, spokesman for the IRHA, said. While the IRHA is not involved as a body, Mr Quinn said he expected many of his members to be there as individuals.
He told ireland.com: "We have to exhaust other initiatives before we take to the streets. But I predicted this [protest] was liable to happen."
