Izzy Kamikaze
I normally like Carl's take, but in this one, he calls the blockadees "farmers." No farmer has four days to spend in O'Connell Street in April! The guys with tractors are agricultural contractors &/or their employees, not farmers!

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:agdqygxmfoi4pnuqyfa7bfv5/post/3mj7etblelc2z
Apr 11 at 8:40amWeb
Show threadIzzy Kamikaze1d ago
I don't know about richer parts of the country, but in the West anyway, these guys are the kingpins of small communities. Farmers are the people who pay through the nose a couple of times a year for contractors & their massive machines to cut their silage or whatever.
Show threadIzzy Kamikaze1d ago
If anybody in rural Ireland will be OK no matter what happens the price of diesel, it's the guys with a couple of million euro tied up in these huge machines.
Show threadIzzy Kamikaze1d ago
The people they will cheerfully pass any increased cost on to are farmers, & those farmers are on their farms right now, same as they are every bloody day.
Show threadBrendan Minish1d ago
@izzykamikaze.bsky.social the other reason that some of the ' huge machines' lot are up in arms is that a lot of their business is done in cash thus they're not benefiting from rebates and claiming vat back
Show threadStoneface Vimes1d ago
@izzykamikaze.bsky.social good point. About the only time a farmer could do that would be about January or maybe February. And then there's still livestock to be attended to.