How the Government bungled its response to fuel protests
From Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan by The Irish Times
April 10, 2026 · 54 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the government's mishandling of fuel protests and the resulting political implications.
Ellen Coyne and Jack Horgan-Jones join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics: It was becoming clear towards the end of last week that protests over the price of fuel were coming. But the scale of what has unfolded seems to have caught the Government by surprise. Then there were missteps in the handling of the situation throughout the week. Now the battle lines have been drawn and positions have been given time and space to harden. Has the State’s authority been undermined? Jack and Ellen take us inside a week of crisis for the country and the coalition . Some opposition politicians showed enthusiastic support for the protests in their early stages, but the mood has become much more cautious as the scale of the impact on daily life has become clear. Donald Trump has claimed the two-week Iran war ceasefire as a victory for the US. In reality, the outcome is anything but . Plus the panel pick their favourite Irish Times articles of the week, including the nuances of court reporting , Paris’s anti-Emily in Paris movement and the childlike wonder inspired by the Artemis mission to the Moon . Would you like to receive daily insights into world events…
People in this episode
Host: Hugh Linehan
Guests: Ellen Coyne, Jack Horgan-Jones
Topics covered
- fuel protests
- government response
- political crisis
- opposition support
- Irish Times articles
Keywords
- fuel protests
- government response
- politics
- Irish Times
- Donald Trump
- Iran ceasefire
- crisis management
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Irish Times, Donald Trump
Books & works: Artemis mission
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