I was really proud during this past week to stand alongside so many sound people from Wexford and Wicklow - men, women and children - the finest of people who took to the roads out of sheer desperation in peaceful protest at a Government of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independent TDs that simply was not listening to them. They demanded meaningful supports and real change. They got neither in the Chamber today. The Government survived but its days are numbered, judging by the anger on the street this evening. I met many of them outside. I have listened to many farmers, contractors, bus operators, taxi drivers, lorrymen, elderly people who cannot heat their homes, and couples commuting to Dublin every morning, of whom there are 6,500 from my area in the Wicklow-Wexford constituency. I have met many young lads on tractors who cannot make a living and may be driven out of this country. It is shameful that they would be robbed of a future in their own country while there is any amount of money available for data centre preferential policies. They get tens of millions of the people's money wasted on all sorts of pet projects while the people who need it cannot get it. The Government could have cut diesel and petrol prices by the maximum amount at the pumps as we proposed. It could have scrapped excise on home heating oil instead of leaving prices at double what they were before. It could have completely scrapped the carbon tax increase. It could have listened to all of these fine people struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, but it just did not do so. Obviously, Trump and Netanyahu's war on the Middle East has caused huge chaos for the Irish people, as well as the slaughter of people in the Middle East, but the Government compounded the problem. The fact that it is taking €40 when someone puts €60 of petrol or diesel into their car is compounding the problem hugely. During the week, nobody I met wanted to be out protesting on the roads. It was the Government's failure to act and listen to them that forced them into desperation. The Government showed huge arrogance, demeaned people and threatened to call in the Army, which was really shameful. We are approaching the anniversary of the Easter Rising on Friday week and it is worth remembering the famous Pearse quote. He wrote: Beware of the thing that is coming, beware of the risen people, Who shall take what ye would not give. I know whose side I am on. The Government won the vote in the Chamber today but the battle is only just beginning.

Sentiment score: -0.20