Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Micheál Martin has announced a €505 million support package including new fuel tax cuts, following six days of widespread protests that saw farmers, truck drivers, taxi and bus drivers, and contractors blockade roads across the country. Demonstrators blocked access to Ireland's only oil refinery at Whitegate in County Cork, key ports, and several fuel depots, leaving more than a third of the country's petrol stations without fuel over the weekend; police used pepper spray to clear protesters and lift blockades on Saturday. The new package, which still requires parliamentary approval, comes on top of a €250 million tax reduction introduced three weeks ago, with the government attributing the underlying price surge to international factors, particularly the conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran, which has disrupted global oil exports.