Fuel protesters warned licences and insurance could be affected, minister says

He said demonstrators need to “cop on", have now “made their point” and may be “manipulated” by malign forces.

Mr O’Callaghan criticised protesters blocking fuel refineries and depots and insisted that the Government “can't have a situation where if somebody goes out and does something unlawful or blockades a critical piece of infrastructure that immediately government says, ‘Okay, I'm going to respond to you, and we're going to give you what you want’”.

Gardaí are now working with the Defence Forces in a bid to move protesters. However, there is no confirmation yet on how this will be done or when it will start.

Mr O’Callaghan confirmed he was due to meet defence minister Helen McEntee and Defence Forces chief of staff Rossa Mulcahy on Thursday evening, but urged people to stand down the protests.

He said that “people need to cop on to the damage that their actions are having on Irish people and Irish society”.

Mr O’Callaghan said, “of course there are going to be legal consequences” but that they “might not arise today or tomorrow”.

“But people have licenses to drive vehicles. Those licenses will be affected,” he said.

“In terms of any insurance coverage, I suspect, will be void as a result of the owner of the equipment deciding to voluntarily get involved in such illegal activity.

“There will be legal consequences down the road. But what I'm here to do is to try to appeal to people to stop these protests.”

Mr O’Callaghan also argued that outside influences are now attempting to get involved in the protests, including English far-right online personality Tommy Robinson.

He argued they need to “wake up and realise they are being manipulated”.

“I would ask people involved in the protests to cease their protests,” Mr O’Callaghan said.

“They've made their point. Government has heard the point that they've made, but it's now clearly the case that considerable damage has been inflicted to Irish people and to the Irish economy, and I'd ask them to stop their protests.

“When you look online at present, you can see that many outside actors are seeking to manipulate these people for their own purposes. I see Tommy Robinson in the UK referring to and relying upon these protests to advance his own political measures.

“We need to recognise that people are being manipulated here, and we need to bring an end to these protests.”

Mr O’Callaghan said that some people have now realised that the protests have gone “too far”, as he welcomed that some protesters had agreed to allow chemicals to treat water to leave Foynes in Limerick.

He said that “this is no longer a protest about fuels” and it is a “blockade of critical resources that the State needs for its citizens”.

He added: “I’d ask the protesters to desist from it, and we've issued instructions in respect of that.

“An Garda Síochána are prepared for all eventualities that may arise.”

When asked what gardaí will do, Mr O’Callaghan said he was not going to “detail what operational responses will be”. He also noted he “doesn’t instruct the gardaí’s operations at all”.

He denied that drafting in the Defence Forces was escalating the matter, saying it was “carefully” considered by Government.

He added: “We're not just prepared to sit idly by and watch fundamental requirements of our society be interrupted by people who are engaged in blockades of fundamental resources.”

Defence Minister Helen McEntee told reporters at the Curragh Camp that the Defence Forces intervention was “never a first resort”.

However, she said: “It cannot be the case that individuals decide that they are going to blockade parts of the country and stop people from going about their business. That they’re going to essentially put other businesses out of business now because of their actions, that farmers are potentially going to put animals at risk because of their actions, and that people aren’t able to get to hospital appointments. So, as the Government, we have to take firm steps.”