Maybe Trump's war will finally wean us off our oil dependency

In the 1970s we had no choice but to queue for petrol. In 2026 there is a host of alternatives — the war in the Gulf should be the final push we need to renewables

A thick plume of smoke rises from an oil storage facility hit by a US-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, on Sunday. Picture: Vahid Salemi/ AP

It feels like déjà vu all over again. I was in primary school when the oil shocks of October 1973 brought Ireland and much of the developed world to its knees.

I well remember waiting in our family car for hours to be allowed to buy £5 worth of petrol.