The recent fuel protests pierced the national consciousness in a way other protests have not: they were disruptive, lasted six days across multiple locations, and put the cost of living and of fuel in particular at the centre of public discourse. When the protesters were finally dispersed, the dramatic events came to a close. But they are likely to open a new era in contemporary Irish protest. Ireland’s presidency of the Council of the EU later this year will likely bring more protests, civil disobedience and direct action.

While protest can be perceived as an inconvenience, this May Day it is important to recall the vital role it plays in a vibrant democracy for securing rights, advancing a better standard of living and furthering social justice.

Protest is on the rise in Ireland. An Garda Síochána recorded a 12 per cent increase in the number of protests in 2025. Most have very little impact on people. Many of us are aware of only a small proportion of them, like the large-scale marches against genocide in Palestine, acts of civil disobedience at Shannon Airport, or those that descend into widespread violence.

The severe disruption to Ireland’s transport infrastructure brought protest centre stage. We all felt their impact in our daily lives. For the first time in many years, the right to protest – and its limits – was one of the most important questions in the public sphere.

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The right to protest is a constitutional right and has been used for decades in Ireland to fight for social change. However, it is not an absolute right. The Constitution allows the State to restrict the right if such assemblies are “calculated to cause a breach of the peace” or judged “to be a danger or nuisance to the general public”.

In practice, human rights law provides an exceptionally high level of protection for the right to peaceful protest. There is a significant threshold for what constitutes violence that protests must meet if they are to fall outside the scope of protection. According to the UN Human Rights Commission, protesters must have violent intentions and the violence must be “widespread and serious”.

Isolated acts of violence do not affect the overall right to and protection of protest. If small numbers of people act violently, they can be arrested and prosecuted, but these isolated acts cannot be used to justify dispersing an entire protest. Pushing, shoving and other minor physical interactions do not reach the threshold to justify clearing all protesters. The Garda clearly deployed a graduated response to the fuel protests. This approach should be similarly used to manage any future protests.

In contrast to the graduated response from the Garda, the Minister for Justice’s announcement that the assistance of the Defence Forces had been requested was highly unusual and marks a shift in the State’s response to protest. The Irish Council for Civil Liberties has written to the Taoiseach and the Garda Commissioner seeking clarity on this decision and the threshold for any future deployment.

[ Simmering Government tensions over O’Callaghan’s request for Army help with fuel blockadesOpens in new window ]

It is important to remember that protest is inherently disruptive. The European Court of Human Rights has ruled there should be a presumption in favour of the right to peaceful protest and that it should not be interpreted restrictively. There is no definitive list of acts that fall under the right to protest; instead, the State must examine each protest on a case-by-case basis. Disruptive protest should not automatically be considered violent or unlawful. However, both the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights allow for protests that have become significantly disruptive to be cleared.

When determining the limits of the right to protest, states should undertake a proportionality assessment balancing the right to protest with other rights, such as the right to life, freedom of movement and protection from violence. Any restrictions on protests must be necessary, as limited as possible, treat everyone equally and be provided for by law.

[ Could we be looking at the future of protests in Ireland?Opens in new window ]

Balancing rights in the context of protest is dynamic and dependent on several factors, including a protest’s length (hours versus days) and size and the scale of disruption. Gardaí invoking their powers under public order and road traffic legislation to disperse protests may be proportionate after multiple days of protest, but could be considered disproportionate if these powers were invoked after only an hour.

One final issue during the fuel protests was the insistence by senior members of Government, including the Taoiseach, that the only legitimate form of political action and dialogue was through representative organisations. This misunderstands the role of protest, which is to provide a direct route for people to collectively express their dissent. There is no requirement that protests be organised by a representative body, and nor should there be.

As we enjoy the benefits of the labour movement’s many successes this May weekend, and as the State prepares to host the EU presidency, we must fiercely protect peaceful protest so that individuals can freely and spontaneously assemble to express discontent and demand change.

Illan rua Wall is a law lecturer at University of Galway, and Emily Williams is policing and justice policy officer at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties

© The Irish Times