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LAST UPDATE | 1 hr ago
SEVEN FUEL TRUCKS have left the Whitegate oil refinery in Co Cork after gardaí succeeded in breaking the four-day blockade.
It is understood that they’re now stuck in traffic near Middleton.
The fuel trucks entered the facility under garda escort after gardaí asked protestors for the keys to their vehicles so they could be moved without the use of the Defence Forces heavy-lift vehicle, which arrived at the site earlier this afternoon.
A gap was made to allow for the fuel trucks to enter the refinery to fill up.
It’s a deescalation after an earlier standoff that saw pepper spray used on protestors at the oil refinery. The Defence Forces’ heavy-lift vehicle arrived at the site with a number of soldiers from the Transport Corps but has not been used.
At around 2.30pm, gardaí were involved in the chase of a tractor which refused to stop. It was driving through east Cork towards the refinery. It was eventually stopped by gardaí once it reached Whitegate.
Four busloads of gardaí arrived at Whitegate shortly before 11:30am, where protestors are on day four of a blockade preventing supplies from leaving the facility.
Protestors formed a line on the road blocking gardaí.
A garda inspector, addressing those gathered with a megaphone, said gardaí respects the rights of those to protest peacefully.
A Garda Inspector gives the protestors the direction to leave and desist from blocking the road at Whitegate. @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/hsGkLZcs2n
— Niall O’Connor (@NiallJournal_ie) April 11, 2026
However, he said the continued presence at Whitegate “goes beyond a peaceful protest and has in fact become a blockade of the public road and property”.
Protesters were “creating a risk to state security”, he said. The inspector told protestors to cease and desist the blockade.
Large number of soft cap uniformed Gardaí have arrived here in Whitegate. They arrived here in four buses.
— Niall O’Connor (@NiallJournal_ie) April 11, 2026
Public order has arrived also.
Some scuffles broke out as the Gardaí moved into position. @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/8rcL4IbYks
The garda public order unit is also present at the scene.
The garda presence today follows a standoff between gardaí and protesters outside the facility yesterday. Gardaí took up positions across the roads between two junctions at either end of the entrance to the Whitegate Refinery.
Public order unit gardaí were at the site yesterday but kept their distance from protestors as garda negotiators spoke to those involved in the blockade.
The refinery is the only one in Ireland and its blockade has led to shortages of fuel at hundreds of forecourts across the country today.
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