The protests witnessed in Galway and elsewhere over the past week could have been avoided if the Government had acted sooner to quell public anger over soaring energy prices and cost-of-living pressures, according to Social Democrats by-election candidate M\u00edde Nic Fhionnlaoich.<\/p>\n
M\u00edde said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThese protests were a manifestation of how desperate many people feel as everyday costs continue to soar \u2013 not just for fuel, but for everything in this country. With fuel supplies at forecourts across Galway city and county quickly drying up, the ending of the blockade in the docks will have been met with huge relief.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut considerable anger and frustration remains. People will continue to struggle to pay for the basics \u2013 food, energy and housing \u2013 and this out of touch Government is just not listening to them. The reality is that the support package announced last night is going to exclude hundreds of thousands of people who are under significant pressure \u2013 such as the 320,000 households in arrears with their electricity bills.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Wednesday, the D\u00e1il will debate a Social Democrats\u2019 motion which proposes a range of supports, including a targeted \u20ac400 energy credit and a supplementary mileage scheme for emergency workers, like nurses and carers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe events of the past week are a stark reminder of the urgent need to reduce the country\u2019s dependency on fossil fuels and have underscored how exposed we are to sudden energy shocks. Our motion also calls on the Government to massively expand supports for solar \u2013 including a doubling of grants to \u20ac3,600 and the inclusion of solar panels in the Warmer Homes Scheme, which targets supports at those households most at risk of fuel poverty.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are the kind of ambitious measures we need to see introduced now, so that all homes suitable for solar panels can have them installed as quickly as possible \u2013 saving households up to \u20ac450 a year in their energy bills.\u201d<\/p>\n
April 13, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The protests witnessed in Galway and elsewhere over the past week could have been avoided if the Government had acted sooner to quell public anger over soaring energy prices and cost-of-living pressures, according to Social Democrats by-election candidate M\u00edde Nic Fhionnlaoich. M\u00edde said: \u201cThese protests were a manifestation of how desperate many people feel as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16419,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[405,650,539,12,806,802,803,479],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","category-cost-of-living","category-energy","category-galway","category-galway-west","category-galway-west-by-election","category-mide-nic-fhionnlaoich","category-unlisted"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n