Search
10 Apr 2026
Search
10 Apr 2026
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Fine Gael councillors John King, Paddy Buggy and Conor Bergin meet with protestors. Pic Denis Byrne
Laois Fine Gael councillors have stood shoulder to shoulder with protestors near a Portlaoise motorway blockade their Government wants to use the Irish defence forces to dismantle.
One of the councillors, aspiring Laois TD Conor Bergin, also said fuel prices must be capped on the day his party colleague and Government minister Martin Heydon argued strongly against such a move.
Cllr Bergin gave his opinion on the protest after he and fellow Laois Fine Gael party colleagues Cllr John King and Cllr Paddy Buggy attended the Laois fuel protest at Junction 17, Portlaoise.
"I fully support the call for a cap on fuel prices, and we are calling on the Government to act now to deliver real relief. We stand with workers, families and businesses who are being hit hard by rising fuel costs.
"People need to be able to afford to get to work and go about their daily lives — right now, too many simply cannot," said Cllr Bergin.
READ ALSO: Show of unity in Laois as business rallies behind Portlaoise fuel protesters
Cllr Bergin, who is also a solictor, made the call for a cap on social media on the same day as his party colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, insisted that aid requests for fuel price caps or a pause to carbon tax increases would undermine the overall economy and are not "in the best interest of the public".
He is not the only Laois public representative to call for a cap on fuel prices, which is one of the demands made by the fuel protestors who have crippled road travel and transport around Ireland.
READ NEXT: Laois Government TD breaks ranks by backing fuel protestors' demand
MORE BELOW PHOTO
Laois Fianna Fáil TD Sean Fleming believes the cap could be covered by what he said was a windfall tax the Government has received due to the rise in fuel tax revenue.
Neither Dep Fleming or Cllr Bergin outlined the level of the cap our how long it should last.
Blockade on M7 Portlaoise. Pic: Denis Byrne
Meanwhile, the M7 continues to be closed around Portlaoise due to a blockade that has been mounted by fuel protestors in teh county.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
