(LifeSiteNews) — Friday, April 10, marked day four of mass protests in Ireland against skyrocketing fuel prices and shortages triggered by the war in the Middle East.

Farmers, haulers, and truckers have launched convoys of tractors, trucks, and vans across the country, blocking major roads (including the M50 around Dublin) and city centers (Dublin’s O’Connell Street), as well as key fuel depots in Galway, Limerick, and Cork.

The protests are reminiscent of the Canadian 2022 Freedom Convoy, which clogged Ottawa for three weeks with hundreds of trucks and other vehicles parked around Parliament Hill. They are reminiscent for another reason, as well: On Thursday, the Irish government invoked “Aid to the Civil Power” (ATCP), which is essentially Ireland’s version of Canada’s Emergency Measures Act. While this is not quite a declaration of martial law, the government has called in the military to assist the police in removing protestors.

NOW – Ireland’s government deploys the Army to remove protesters’ vehicles, as Deputy Commissioner Shawna Coxon warns truckers, farmers, and business owners protesting fuel prices and taxes, that they must “immediately cease blockades… or face the full rigors of the law.” pic.twitter.com/4NdPkkX09u

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) April 9, 2026

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“Ireland’s deputy police commissioner is from Toronto,” noted Ezra Levant of Rebel News. “She is threatening Irish trucker protesters with the same consequences that Trudeau used against the peaceful trucker protest in Canada. Canada is a net exporter of civil liberties violations.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergency Measures Act on February 14, 2022, the first and only time the Canadian government has used it. Trudeau claimed that it was necessary to clear the capital, despite his refusal to actually engage with the peaceful protestors, who were calling for an end to forced vaccine mandates. In 2024, a Canadian federal court rejected Trudeau’s claim that the Freedom Convoy constituted a “national emergency,” and ruled that the Act – as well as the freezing of bank accounts and travel bans – were unconstitutional. The Federal Court of Appeal unanimously upheld this ruling in January.

Ireland’s ATCP is used much more frequently, but it is rare for the government to call in the army to deal with protests.

According to the police, however, the protests crossed a line when they became “blockades,” making it necessary to bring in the military to remove them. Defence Minister Helen McEntee stated that while using the army was “not the norm,” the blockades had “crossed into criminal behavior,” and four heavy-lift recovery trucks will assist police in removing vehicles. Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan added that owners “should not complain later about any damage [to their vehicles] caused during removal.”

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris have thus far refused to meet with the protestors, even as organizers promise escalations in the days ahead. Instead, government officials have met with groups such as the Farmers Association and the Irish Road Haulage Association. The government insists that the blockades will only do further damage to the Irish economy, and that essential deliveries – including food and animal feed – are being hampered by the protests. Public reaction has been mixed. Many support the protestors, while others are worried about the disruption to services.

One protest organizer, tow truck driver Sonny Boyd, assured the press that the arrival of the military will not stop the protests.

“It’s going to keep continuing and escalating, because the rest of the country wants to get involved,” Boyd told the Telegraph. “There are more towns and counties that want to have protests. The level of support we’re getting is unbelievable. We want the carbon tax to be gone, and we need the fuel to be capped at a realistic price. One of our tractors that’s sitting here in front of me has a gross weight of probably 26 tonnes, with a trailer and a digger on the back. They’re not going to move that very easily.”

In the meantime, many of the protestors are sleeping in their vehicles and insisting that the government speak with them. Ireland’s leaders will have to decide whether to negotiate with increasingly desperate and cash-strapped citizens – or to initiate a Trudeau-style crackdown.