A severe fuel shortage has hit the west of Ireland, with filling stations across Limerick, Clare, Galway and Kerry either already out of petrol and diesel or seeing long queues forming where supplies are available.

The ongoing fuel protests which have blocked deliveries from Galway, Foynes and Ireland’s only oil refinery in Whitegate in Co. Cork mean that filling stations across the region have been unable to receive deliveries.

Motorists queue for fuel on the Tipperary road in Limerick on Thursday evening, 9 April, amid ongoing protests over the rise in fuel prices.

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Speaking earlier today the National Emergency Coordination Group (NECG) said that there is sufficient fuel in the country.

"The current situation is solely a distribution issue that can be alleviated by ending blockades and restoring access for delivery vehicles," the group said.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said: “I think it is extraordinary that the war in the Middle East did not endanger our supplies to date, and it's by actions now of protesters that supplies have been temporarily denied and endangered.”

Protesters in Foynes who spoke to the Irish Farmers Journal on Thursday said they are determined to keep up the blockade until the Government agrees to enter talks with a view to putting a cap on both green and white diesel prices.