Independent Midlands TD's To Back No Confidence Motion

Monday, 13 April 2026 14:25

Carol Nolan and Brian Stanley are indicating they will support Sinn Fein's motion.

The government is facing accusations of being responsible for the week-long fuel price demonstrations that have hit the country.

Sinn Fein is tabling a motion of no confidence tomorrow despite yesterday's announcement of just 500 million euro in fuel supports.

Longford Westmeath rep for the party Sorca Clarke says tensions are at a boiling point:

Midlands Independent TDs Brian Stanley and Carol Nolan are supporting the motion.

Deputy Nolan says: "My own clear sense from talking to people, and this is a view I have long held, is that this Government, and previous Governments, have become so overly focused on the international scene that they have lost sight of the real pain that our own people are in at the national level.”

The government parties have had their ears off the ground for years and that is why they could not hear the stampede of frustration that was building up.

“Billions are being spent annually fulfilling ‘international obligations’ around asylum. Almost another billion was committed to overseas development in Budget 2026 and despite being net contributors to the EU budget since 2013, farmers are still getting shafted with the likes of Mercosur. Not to mention the almost €400 million Government has given directly to Ukraine. The list goes on and on. And now they want our own people to almost drop down in awe at Governments largesse merely because it drops the price of fuel by a couple of cents, and it finally concedes on the ridiculous carbon tax increase

“The reality is this; people are simply sick and tired of being taken for fools. They are sick of being lectured at by an elite clique. They are sick of being talked down to as Government attempts to gaslight them on a daily basis.”

Deputy Stanley says:

"The Government need to learn lessons, as they refused to recognise the scale of the problem of hauliers, and contract farmers, etc operating at a loss.

Throughout the last week the Government continued to make things worse.

Others and I have been raising the fuel cost issue for months. Two weeks before the protests, I wrote to the Minister for Finance Simon Harris and asked him to meet with the sectors and put a package together as many of them were running at a loss.

While the package the Government announced yesterday evening will alleviate some of the pressure it is not going far enough. There is still a cost-of-living crisis for workers and families, and this must be addressed.”