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10 Apr 2026
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10 Apr 2026
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Photo: Kilkenny City Tours
As disruptions from the ongoing national fuel protests continue for a fourth day, local businesses are feeling the pressure as sectors of everyday life grind to a halt.
Along with the difficulty in fueling vehicles, companies like Kilkenny City Tours are struggling with the lack of visitors entering from Dublin, leaving their distinctive black and amber trains without their usual quota of customers.
“Despite the fuel, we’re having more problems with our tourists not being able to get to us,” said Paul Matthews, tour guide with the company. “We’ve American tourists and they can’t get out of Dublin so what we’re getting is a lot of cancellations at the minute.”
“With all the protests and the queuing going into garages, we can’t get units in to fuel,” he added.
The disruptions to transport out of the capital and the impact it’s having on tourists’ mobility has led to a number of tours being cancelled and lost income as the company’s busiest season fast approaches.
“My day has been halved and I’m on my way home because I have no work to do and we can’t be sitting in the cold doing nothing,” Mr Matthews outlined.
“We’ve had two tours cancelled today, two tomorrow and two on Sunday, so financially if it keeps going the way it’s going, it’s ruining the tourist season for us.”
“We get 250 days of tourist season and you need to make hay when the sun is shining,” he continued.
The protests and blockades show little sign of dispersing and the current strains on some businesses may prove unsustainable if the stand-off continues for an extended period.
“We’ve lost nearly 300-350 passengers in the last couple of days. For me to be going home at one o’clock on a Friday; it’s unheard of,” Mr Matthews said.
“There’s ways they can protest it and ways they shouldn’t. I know they’re fighting for their business but they have to remember there’s a lot of businesses that they’re crippling as well,” he concluded.
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