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RTÉ News
18 hours ago
- Business
- RTÉ News
Growing political pressure for firm Govt action on Gaza
All day Wednesday and late into the evening on the street facing Leinster House, demonstrators sang a stinging song urging politicians to find their "backbone" and to enact the Occupied Territories Bill. The same sentiment echoed through the Dáil chamber. Some within the Government bristled over what they believe is a shocking failure to take into account its outspoken voice on Gaza. Words that have been matched by deeds, including €87 million in funding for people in Palestine since 2023, recognising the State of Palestine, supporting South Africa's case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, and leading the way in requesting a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. The Taoiseach even claimed there is a battle under way domestically for moral superiority on what has become one of the most emotive issues in Irish politics. The language denouncing Israel's actions has become sharper too with both Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris repeatedly using the word genocide this week. All remaining ambiguity and lingering diplomatic niceties have now been cast aside. The Taoiseach believes the single more effective next step is to try to persuade the EU and the US to "pull their support for the State of Israel". But it is the requirement for further direct interventions by this State rather than words alone which is fueling immense political tension. A significant political act was about to unfold It was evident as the bells were clanging around Leinster House just after 6pm on Wednesday when the weekly votes were called. A significant political act was about to unfold before the business concluded. Reporters watched from the Dáil gallery as Dublin Bay-North TD Barry Heneghan took his seat to vote on a Sinn Féin Bill. It was a piece of legislation that would prevent the Central Bank from retaining its technical role in approving the prospectus which allows Israel sell bonds in the EU. Israel has made it clear that these bonds are used to fund its war in Gaza. Sinn Féin's legal advice stated that a Member State is entitled as a matter of EU law to unilaterally restrict access to its financial services. It can do so on public policy grounds that are rooted in Ireland's fundamental interest in pursuing its international law obligations, the legal opinion concluded. The Government argued that the Bill did not provide a legal mechanism to allow the Central Bank of Ireland set aside its obligations under the EU Prospectus Regulation. It argued this was an EU competence, and the Central Bank can only refuse the approval of a prospectus where it has a legal basis to do so. The advice circulated to ministers added that it is legally required to issue prospectuses that are complete, legally sound, and comprehensible. For Barry Heneghan, who had supported the Government in every vote up to this point, this was a matter of conscience, and he believed Ireland shouldn't facilitate the sale of bonds that help fund the devastation in Gaza. He left Leinster House around 9pm on Wednesday, long after the bells had ceased ringing, certain in the knowledge that he had made the right decision. Generally, there was little political alarm triggered by his vote within Government. Some whispered that "Barry can be difficult to manage", and that it was simply a "flexing of muscles". But it did unquestionably show that those Independents, who occupy a liminal position within the Coalition, are perhaps a more fragile bloc of votes than first suspected. This was further illustrated by the actions of Meath-East TD Gillian Toole. Before 9pm she was on a bus back home to Ratoath having also voted against the Government on the Bill. Regarded as a deep-thinker and a conscientious politician, Gillian Toole cited the lack of detailed briefings from the Government as an influence on her decision. The two TDs are still aligned to the Coalition, their jump overboard is a temporary one, and the Government's majority is not shattered. 'Call out the narrative for what it is' It is emblematic though of the growing pressure on the Government to accompany its increasingly strident rhetoric on Gaza with firm actions. The acerbic exchange between the Tánaiste and Independent TD Catherine Connolly in the Dáil on Thursday morning typified the fractiousness which has built around this issue. The Galway West TD made an impassioned call on Government to do more, saying: "It's time we led. Call out the narrative for what it is. Israel is a rogue state; it is not a democratic state. Stand up, stand up and account for what you're going to do." In a charged atmosphere, Simon Harris accused her of expressing "vitriol and dislike for Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil" and of refusing to acknowledge the major steps taken by the Government. It all suggests that the Government will now be pursued relentlessly by protesters, the Opposition, and perhaps by some Independent TDs supporting the Coalition, to pass the Occupied Territories Bill quickly. The Foreign Affairs Committee, chaired by Fianna Fáil TD John Lahart, has already singalled that it will sit throughout June to progress this legislation swiftly. The speed of its passage through the Oireachtas after this committee work has concluded will be the measure of the Government's strong words on Gaza this week.
Irish Times
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Miriam Lord's week: Influencer Richie Herlihy's foul-mouthed review of Dáil restaurant leaves a bad taste
The Dáil's Regional Independent Group has lodged a complaint to the Ceann Comhairle and the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission after a social media influencer posted a foul-mouthed and scathing review of the meal he was served in the Dáil members' restaurant while there as the guest of an Independent Ireland TD. Cork-based content creator Richie Herlihy, who robustly reviews spice boxes and other takeaway favourites for his online platforms, visited Leinster House a month ago on the invitation of Cork North Central TD, Ken O'Flynn. On the day, Deputy O'Flynn told the Dáil his friend, who also runs a food truck, 'has the best battered sausage in Cork'. After his visit, the comedian/influencer uploaded a video on Facebook , TikTok and Instagram. The visit also featured on Independent Ireland's social media feeds. READ MORE Richie began by giving a plug to the menswear shop in Cork where he picked his new suit for the occasion. And he said there was 10 per cent off everything in the shop for his followers (126,000 and counting on TikTok and 85,000 on Facebook). Then he meets Ken 'the legend himself', who is seen showing him around the place. He loved that, as he also loved the 'as creamy as they f***in' get' pints served in the bar. He didn't like the food, though. Taking photographs and videos without permission is prohibited in the public areas of Leinster House, including the bars and restaurants. There are strict rules around this, although in recent years, as everyone has a mobile phone, an unspoken tolerance has developed for people taking discreet pictures for personal use. Richie's visit, though, was something of a production. He set up a camera with a microphone attached on a tripod beside his table in the restaurant where he sat next to Ken O'Flynn. A friend simultaneously recorded the scene on his phone. The camera zoomed in on his chicken liver pate and an opinion was given. 'Like dog food' with 'burnt' toast, which was 'actually f***in' soggy' like it was 'cooked on a radiator'. As for his chicken curry. 'I'd say Micheál Martin cooked this yoke anyway because I've had better microwaved dinners out of Lidl. Absolute garbage, chicken tough as a badger's arse.' Could they not get it right 'with all the money [they] waste up in the f***in' Dáil . . . absolute sh***.' There were scenes of banter with Ken in his office, and as Richie walked the corridors he commented for his followers: 'There's a smell of vermin in here, vermin in the f**kin' hallways!'. Richie said Ken treated him like gold and all the TDs he met were very nice. He met none of the TDs he wouldn't get along with, but if he had, he would have given them a piece of his mind. As he was leaving, the content creator talked about having to wash the 'smell of vermin' out of his suit 'because of the other rats that are in there'. The video upset the hard-working catering staff in particular. The politicians were angered on their behalf and they weren't amused by the references to vermin either. The video was deleted soon afterwards but it is still doing the rounds on Kildare Street. Staffers are still very annoyed about it. This prompted the Regional Group to lodge a formal complaint and request that Deputy O'Flynn apologise to the catering staff. The group comprises the Lowry TDs, Danny Healy-Rae, Mattie McGrath, Carol Nolan and those junior ministers previously attached to the group. Minister of State Noel Grealish said he sat down and spoke to the staff because 'they were extremely upset' over the video. 'They take pride in their job and they take pride in the quality of the food they produce.' Meanwhile, Mattie McGrath took the issue to the floor of the Dáil on Wednesday when he called for an apology from Ken O'Flynn, who hosted the influencer. 'A deputy brought an outside person into this House with a tripod and camera. That person made appalling videos and denigrated the excellent staff of this House in the restaurant and the excellent cuisine on offer there,' he told the Dáil. Meanwhile, there will be no apology from Richie Herlihy. 'These politicians should have more on their plate with the state they have the country in, instead of this handbags' he told us on Friday. 'I told the truth that day, food I got was shocking, and some of them politicians including Mattie McGrath should be busy working on the real problems in this country. There have been threats to public safety from the people they have let into Ireland. Should be more on their agenda to be keeping the Irish people safe than to be attacking me about a bit of banter with a bit of truth in it!' We were unable to contact Deputy O'Flynn. Emotive fox-hunting issue attracted outsiders to the Dáil, some of whom arrived on all fours Rural based TDs Danny Healy-Rae and Independent Ireland's Michael Collins were criticised on Wednesday for trying to stop the passage of a Bill to ban fox hunting at its first stage. Ruth Coppinger of People Before Profit introduced it in the Dáil. She was gobsmacked when the two deputies spoke against it and Danny called for a vote. It is common practice for Bills to go through on the nod for a full debate at the next stage. The Dublin West TD said it was 'unprecedented' for a TD to try to prevent a Bill from reaching second stage and a full airing in the Dáil. 'I have introduced many controversial things, as have other TDs, and I have never stopped a Bill from going to second stage. I have been told to put on the big-girl pants and allow debate, but here we have a stifling of the freedom of debate and freedom of speech.' Coppinger urged the Government not to back the call to block it . But Healy-Rae said he got calls 'from every corner of Kerry' asking him 'to ensure that we stop this at the start'. Farmers are losing hens and lambs to foxes, he said. 'They're all over the place. They're coming into towns and villages. They're in and out of bins and they're everywhere. They've completely taken over the place.' Collins said foxes are a danger to young lambs and native birds, and controls are needed for 'pests' such as the fox and the hare. People Before Profit TD Ruth Coppinger during a protest against fox hunting on Tuesday. Photograph: Gráinne Ní Aodha/PA Wire 'We have to have some kind of controls, because the next thing is you'll be inside here looking to see if we can protect the rat or the mouse or whatever. And nobody wants to protect the human being, that's the problem here.' As he spoke, a strange noise, like an animal bleating, came from the public gallery where anti-blood sports campaigners were sitting. Collins, a TD for Cork South-West, stopped and looked around. He said: 'Sorry, is that a lamb or what?' Meanwhile, the following evening, as the Dáil voted on whether or not to scupper legislation to outlaw the killing of foxes for 'sport' without a full hearing, one interested observer was spotted sitting stock still at a back door around the services side of the building, as if listening intently. The Bill passed to the next stage. And the little Leinster House fox hurried away. This fox had a particular interest in proceedings at Leinster House Turning the page from one generation of political journalist to the next A big crowd escaped from Leinster House after the weekly voting bloc on Wednesday and streamed down the road towards Hodges Figgis bookshop for the launch of Gavan Reilly's latest opus: The Secret Life of Leinster House. Among the TDs was Government-supporting Independent Barry Heneghan, currently sans moustache, but that could change by next week. Barry was in good form, having just voted against the Government and in favour of Sinn Féin's pro-Palestine Bill seeking to prevent the Irish Central Bank from facilitating the sale of Israeli bonds in the European Union. Veteran newsman and political commentator Sean O'Rourke did the honours at the launch in a lengthy and entertaining speech on how political journalism has changed down through the years. He drew on his own early years with the Irish Press group, focusing on one particular day in the 1980s when the Evening Press released three editions. The early edition trumpeted that Fianna Fáil minister Séamus Brennan was 'on the brink' of resigning. The next edition, a couple of hours later, had 'pressure' mounting on Séamus to go. And the headline on the final, late evening edition, announced that Brennan was staying on. Gavan, whose wife Ciara is a daughter of former GAA president and Kilkenny hurling great Nicky Brennan, could not have spoken for as long as Sean even if he wanted to. Midway through his speech he realised he forgot to order the takeaway for the babysitter and wrapped things up pretty sharpish after that. 'This book will provide an important public service,' said our own Pat Leahy in his review last week. The Secret Life of Leinster House (published by Gill Books at €17.99) clips along at a fair pace and does a good job of explaining for outsiders and aspiring anoraks how the whole place does or doesn't work. Committee meetings could be blink-and-you-miss-it affairs if early indications are accurate The committees are cranking into action after a much-delayed start and a lot of fuss over who would get those coveted committee chairs. The lesser vice-chair prizes are now being decided. This week, the Health Committee voted on a deputy for Pádraig Rice, Social Democrats TD for Cork South-Central. There were two contenders: Fine Gael's Colm Burke from across the way in Cork North-Central and Martin Daly, Fianna Fáil TD for Roscommon-Galway. Colm was a minister of state at the Department of Health in the last government, while Martin, a first-time deputy, is a GP based in Galway and a former president of the Irish Medical Organisation. He is Fianna Fáil's spokesperson on health. Dr Daly, with his extensive experience in the medical world, was seen as favourite for the position. But Colm, who was an MEP and then a senator before he was elected to the Dáil in 2020, proved a very strong campaigner. He got the job, thanks to support from Sinn Féin. A thank-you, perhaps, for Colm signing a cross-party letter sent by Sinn Féin to the Minister for Housing urging him to release immediate funding for the Tenant in Situ Scheme in Cork city. The scheme allows councils to buy rental properties when landlords put them on the market. Colm was the only Government TD to sign the letter. Timing will be a major bone of contention at forthcoming committee meetings. In its desire to please everyone and come up with all sorts of new committees on all sorts of subjects, the time available for sittings has been truncated. Too many com-mit-tees and not enough meeting rooms or staff to cope. This explains why the much-anticipated meeting of RTÉ and the Media Committee was conducted at a breakneck pace by chairman Alan Kelly. They could have gone on for hours, but in a lucky break for RTÉ, this wasn't possible. He had to be out of the room after 2½ hours — and that included their private session — to make way for the daintily titled Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform, Digitalisation, and Taoiseach.
Irish Times
18 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Times
The first cracks in the Coalition: ‘Some Independents you would not bring lion-hunting with you'
In December, when Government-formation talks were under way, a Fianna Fáil TD stopped for a chat on the steps of Leinster House. At that time there was still a possibility that Labour might be willing to make a deal. This Fianna Fáil TD clearly preferred that option. 'My gut instinct is to be supported by a bloc,' he mused. 'Labour is a bloc. The Independents have been trying to create one but the reason they are Independent is they have no whip. I worry about a shock.' READ MORE At that moment, an Independent TD appeared on the plinth before him. He nodded at the TD and remarked quietly. 'Some Independents you would not bring lion-hunting with you under any circumstances.' When Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and his Fine Gael counterpart began formation talks in earnest, one of their primary goals was to create a coalition with a working majority and that would be robust enough to last the full five-year term of the 34th Dáil. In the end they settled for a deal with the Healy-Rae brothers and a group of nine regional Independents TDs, whose chief negotiator was the controversial Tipperary North TD Michael Lowry . When the deal was brokered, Lowry used a by now infamous phrase, vowing support 'through thick and thin'. As has been shown over the past 30 years, most coalitions have some degree of intrinsic brittleness. In the first week of government in 2020, a Green Party TD (Neasa Hourigan) voted against a Government Bill on residential tenancies, and a newly appointed minister of State (Joe O'Brien) abstained. [ Barry Heneghan moves Dáil seat away from Michael Lowry to emphasise his 'independent' status Opens in new window ] Finian McGrath was a left-leaning Independent TD who supported the Fianna Fáil/Green coalition in 2007. When the economy starting hitting the buffers, and austerity measures were introduced, McGrath was frequently baited by the Opposition, who accused him of jettisoning his principles. When a harsh and punitive budget was announced on October 2008, McGrath withdrew his support. Intriguingly, McGrath, who retired from the Dáil in 2020, has acted as a mentor and adviser to Barry Heneghan , the 27-year-old TD representing Dublin Bay North. Heneghan is one of four Government-supporting Independents who does not have a ministerial role: Lowry, Gillian Toole , and Danny Healy-Rae are the others. On Wednesday night, Heneghan voted against the Coalition in favour of the Sinn Féin Bill that would have prevented the Central Bank approving a prospectus that allows Israel to sell bonds in the EU. So did his colleague Toole. Her vote took many people by surprise, as she has not been prominent in that group. The vote was 87 to 75 in favour of the government, still a comfortable margin. [ Independents Barry Heneghan, Gillian Toole vote against Coalition and in favour of Sinn Féin's pro-Palestine Bill Opens in new window ] Was this a once-off? Or was it a straw in the wind? Are we seeing the first flecks of rust in the superstructure? Toole said she had voted that way because of a lack of a detailed briefing from Government. For his part, Heneghan said: 'This is about standing up for international law and basic human rights.' Heneghan has learned over the past six months that when you are a freshman left-leaning TD supporting a centrist Government, there is no such thing as a shallow end. On the issue of Gaza in particular, he was harangued from the Opposition benches, and faced a social media pile-on when he pledged support for the Occupied Territories Bill but voted with the Government against a Sinn Féin motion on the Bill in March. McGrath went public to defend his protege, saying Heneghan would not 'bottle it' on the Bill when all the technical and legal flaws were resolved. 'Unlike many others he is not afraid to make tough decisions and step up,' he said. Heneghan on Thursday indicated that his inexperience told against him for that vote in March. In a sense the vote this week was him standing on his own two feet. Heneghan argues his commitment is to support the programme, financial measures, votes of confidence but there are other issues on which he can vote according to his conscience. Is this twin-track approach consistent and durable? He says it is. One of the five Independents with a ministerial office, Seán Canney, admits that a vote against the Government can cause problems but that this is not on a core issue. 'It's just that Barry and Gillian had a particular issue with this,' he says. 'It's not the case that they are gone, or anything like that. He adds a note of caution: 'It would not want to happen too often.' [ Records show what Independent TDs backing the Government want for their constituencies Opens in new window ] When you speak to Ministers from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael you are immediately struck by a notable sense of fatalism about future Independent defections. A Fine Gael Minister, speaking privately, points to what could be coming down the tracks, and some really tough decisions that might be necessary. 'If our people are voting against the Government on this, you can imagine how they will vote when it's something really unpopular,' says the Minister. A Fianna Fáil Minister, who does not wish to be named, says it is inevitable that the Government will shed numbers. 'It does not take a genius to figure out that the TDs who do not have ministerial gigs will be the flakiest,' he says. That said, nobody in Government is unduly concerned. None can foresee the current majority of 17 falling to single figures, even if a lion-hunting expedition becomes necessary.
Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Paul Hosford: Jim O'Callaghan making up for lost time with leadership whispers
If a week is a long time in politics, five years is equivalent to a geological era. Go back a little over five years, and Jim O'Callaghan was the forgotten man of Fianna Fáil. Overlooked for a Cabinet position — ostensibly in favour of a party interloper in Stephen Donnelly — O'Callaghan rejected Taoiseach Micheál Martin's offer of a junior role, saying he would focus of strengthening the Fianna Fáil party. 'At a time when many of our party's senior members will be pre-occupied with their ministerial duties, I want to devote more time to strengthening our great party by making it a more attractive option for young voters,' he said at the time. 'I also believe Fianna Fáil needs strong voices outside government who can ensure that our party's identity can be protected during the term of this coalition government.' The pitch was clear as O'Callaghan set off on a covid-era road trip around the country, meeting party members and trying to position himself as their voice. The man inside the tent willing to shout out However, somewhere between covid lockdowns and a lack of spotlight, the assumption that the Dublin Bay South man would emerge as the obvious successor to Micheál Martin burned out without much incident. For a party which internally argued it needed to be stronger in Dublin, the idea of a Dublin TD with huge name recognition being somewhat sidelined was odd Micheál Martin's quiet control of his party and a lack of real openings meant that, for the most part, O'Callaghan was relegated to the backbenches for the last Dáil term. As the Cabinet reshuffle in 2022 came and went, there he remained — a high-profile TD who was a good media performer, but had to work to find something to perform. Fast forward to the election campaign of 2024, however, and something had shifted. While in 2020, Micheál Martin was perceived to have effectively ended any leadership aspirations O'Callaghan would have had by publicly offering him a junior role, knowing he would refuse, he was a key player in the 2024 campaign which saw Fianna Fáil come out the largest party in the Dáil. A large part of this was his utility in justice debates leading up to polling day, even sparking a sexism row with his now Cabinet colleague and predecessor in the role Helen McEntee. 'We need to build on the good proposals that Fianna Fáil came up with before,' he told RTÉ's Prime Time, effectively dismissing Ms McEntee's work as being built on his own ideas. 'Far more effective' When McEntee shot back that she had 'turned up' and he had refused the call to the junior ministerial ranks, O'Callaghan was quick to say that he had been 'far more effective as a backbench Fianna Fáil TD… than being the minister's assistant'. It was combative and hardly collegiate, but many in his party found it energising. Many attributed, unfairly in many cases, much of the coalition's woes to McEntee's performance. But this went further, in that it showed clear water between the two parties in a campaign which forced them to run on a joint record. Yet, Even his leading role in the campaign did not make him an automatic pick for many who read the cabinet tea leaves, with then junior justice minister James Browne among those who were tipped as potentially pipping him to the justice seat at Cabinet. At one point, an agreement where O'Callaghan would simultaneously be Attorney General and a TD was floated in the press — though this was never really seen as a runner. Due to his closeness to the justice role — he is a qualified barrister — O'Callaghan was seen by many as only fitting that role in the run-up to the announcement of ministers, which ended up being both delayed by a Dáil row and truncated by the incoming Storm Éowyn, though nobody who got the call to Áras an Úachtaráin that evening seems to have minded the short victory lap. When O'Callaghan's name was confirmed as justice minister, it marked an arrival at Cabinet that some felt was delayed. He has set about making up for lost time Perhaps aware of his predecessor's last few months under the microscope, since his appointment as justice minister, O'Callaghan has worked quickly to establish a public narrative that he is on top of his brief — particularly in the area of migration. Within weeks of the Government being formed, he was keen to publicise the fact that Ireland had commenced deportation flights to Georgia. A second flight followed weeks later. While these were an initiative kick-started under McEntee, and led to relatively small numbers of people being deported, they impress upon the public the idea that O'Callaghan is on top of the issue. Of course, some of this is circumstance — data shows there has been a 43% drop in applications for Ireland's asylum system here, compared to the same timeframe for last year — and he has been helped by the fact that large scale protests around individual sites for international protection services applicants have not been much of a feature in this year's discourse. However, O'Callaghan seems aware of perception as much as reality. To that end, his language is tougher than McEntee's. In an early radio interview he said 'too many people' are coming to Ireland seeking international protection who are not entitled to it. He upped that ante last month by proposing new laws around international protection that seeks to cut processing times and majorly cuts the usage of oral hearings, as he said the existing asylum laws in Ireland were not fit for purpose. Law and order O'Callaghan has leaned into the perception that he is a man of law and order and, to a large extent, it has worked. He has not fallen out with the garda rank and file members, but an ongoing struggle to fill the Garda Commissioner's job remains. Likewise, a pair of high-profile stabbings in Dublin early in his tenure did not become the crises they might have and this week's extradition of Sean McGovern, a senior figure in the Kinahan group, from Dubai was something put in train months ago — but was good news that happened on his watch. His decision this week to give a State apology to the family of Shane O'Farrell was the right thing to do, and avoided a subject which O'Callaghan had been vocal on from the backbenches becoming a problem in Government. All of this has seen O'Callaghan re-emerge as a name mentioned as a Fianna Fáil leader in waiting, whenever Martin departs Privately, members of the party believe that O'Callaghan has shown the political instincts that the party leader would need and is considered a better media performer than his most obvious rival: Public expenditure minister Jack Chambers. Those close to Martin insist he is going nowhere for now — he has over two years left of his second term as Taoiseach — but there is also a recognition that he cannot be the leader forever. Sources in the party say that O'Callaghan's challenge is to avoid becoming a lightning rod for the coalition — easier said than done from a beefed-up justice portfolio which once again includes migration. Along the way, he has to avoid controversies in a department which has derailed potential party leaders on a number of occasions, many through scandals and controversies which nobody could have foreseen. While many consider him the current leader in the non-existent-but-still-kind-of-happening-but-also-not-happening race to succeed Martin, that is based largely on a good start to his time in justice. However, as the saying goes, a good start is half the work.
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Irish Examiner
Fuel prices fall across Ireland as diesel drops 9c and petrol eases at the pumps
Fuel prices in Ireland have experienced a decline this May following a stable period, according to the latest AA Ireland Fuel Price Survey. Petrol prices have decreased by 4c per litre, while diesel has seen a significant drop of 9c per litre. In contrast, the running costs for electric vehicles (EVs) have remained unchanged for the third consecutive month. This drop in fuel prices can be attributed to a mix of factors, including slightly lower global oil prices, improved supply conditions, and a stronger euro against the US dollar, which has reduced import costs for fuel in Ireland. A spokesperson for AA Ireland stated, "It's good to see some easing at the pumps for petrol and diesel drivers, who've been paying more in recent months. These kinds of savings, even just a few cents, can add up quickly — especially for those with longer commutes or larger vehicles." Drivers are encouraged to compare fuel prices locally and seek ways to reduce their fuel expenses. "If you shop around — especially in border counties — you'll often find cheaper rates than the national average," the spokesperson added. EV owners continue to benefit from stable running costs, particularly those using night-rate electricity plans and home-charging options. Read More Fianna Fáil TD apologises for inaccurate Dáil claim about British army actions in Ireland
