Brian Stanley: Government Threatens Ordinary Workers Over Fuel
Brian Stanley confronts the government's response to rising fuel prices and protests, saying ministers ignored warnings and only acted after demonstrations escalated. He recalls writing to the Tánaiste in March to warn that people were running at a loss and condemns threats against ordinary working people.
Brian Stanley accuses the government of an appalling handling of the fuel price crisis and of refusing to listen to opposition voices, sector representatives and affected people. He says supports were only introduced after protests grew and that threats, not solutions, were the first response.
Stanley describes having written to the Tánaiste in March to warn that businesses and workers were running at a loss and could not continue to operate. He argues the government ignored these warnings and then treated protesters as a threat rather than partners for solutions.
He criticises the talk of bringing in the army and mocks the spectacle - one army truck to move pallets that could have been shifted with a Massey Ferguson 35. He highlights the human cost: ordinary people working 60, 70 hours a week left feeling threatened instead of heard.
Stanley frames the episode as an example of a government that delays supports and escalates rhetoric instead of engaging constructively. The speech presses for accountability and for practical, negotiated solutions to ease pressure on working people and small businesses.
What he said
Brian Stanley accuses the government of an appalling handling of the fuel price crisis and of refusing to listen to opposition voices, sector representatives and affected people. He says supports were only introduced after protests grew and that threats, not solutions, were the first response.
Warnings ignored
Stanley describes having written to the Tánaiste in March to warn that businesses and workers were running at a loss and could not continue to operate. He argues the government ignored these warnings and then treated protesters as a threat rather than partners for solutions.
Response and consequences
He criticises the talk of bringing in the army and mocks the spectacle - one army truck to move pallets that could have been shifted with a Massey Ferguson 35. He highlights the human cost: ordinary people working 60, 70 hours a week left feeling threatened instead of heard.
Broader significance
Stanley frames the episode as an example of a government that delays supports and escalates rhetoric instead of engaging constructively. The speech presses for accountability and for practical, negotiated solutions to ease pressure on working people and small businesses.
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Transcript
Government's handling of the fuel price issue has been appalling. You refuse to listen to the opposition. Week after week here we told you what was happening. You refuse to listen to the representatives of the various sectors and various bodies. I wrote to the Tánaiste in March and I told him in that that people are now running at a loss. People who have met and cannot continue to operate as things stand, unquote. That was in March I wrote to him. Instead you threaten people who are trying to make a living, ordinary working people. And in Leash it wasn't the far right, there was no far right. Ordinary hard working people, people who work 60, 70 plus hours a week. And you only moved to put supports in place when the protests escalated. And then the army was threatened with being brought in. For what? One army truck to move pallets that could have been moved with a Massey Ferguson 35 with a frontal loader on it. You know, a big hoo-ha about the army, we thought we were going to see them on the streets. Instead of listening and working towards solutions with people, you're threatening them. And that is wrong and you left out people.