# How the fuel protests exposed the myth of Irish prosperity

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/free-state-with-joe-brolly-and-dion-fanning-6213217/how-the-fuel-protests-exposed-the-myth-of-irish-prosperity
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/free-state-with-joe-brolly-and-dion-fanning-6213217/how-the-fuel-protests-exposed-the-myth-of-irish-prosperity.md
Podcast: [Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning](https://stenobird.com/podcast/free-state-with-joe-brolly-and-dion-fanning-6213217)
Published: 2026-04-14T00:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://freestatepodcast.com
Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/641338125bde790011089c5b/e/69dd6e5cdaa5b95957ef8737/media.mp3
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Duration seconds: 2632

## Resource

‘Nobody has a right to blockade our country,’ Micheal Martin stated when announcing what the government would be doing in response to the protests that brought the country to a halt. But what does it tell us about the fraying of the social contract that people felt they had to take to the barricades in their country to demonstrate how desperate things have become? On Free State today Joe and Dion look at a week that might have changed Ireland and why the establishment doesn’t know how to respond. We ask who were the bad actors who tried to attach themselves to the protest and explain why they are being used as a distraction to avoid dealing with the fundamental problems in the country. Joe and Dion also discuss the piece by Sinead O’Sullivan which you can read here https://www.butthistime.com/p/mind-the-gap. Feel free to email info@freestate.podcast.com with your own thoughts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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## Transcript

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