What do racism, climate change, immigration and fuel costs all have in common? They have all sparked protests in Ireland over the past five years. In April, a nationwide protest about the price and taxation of fuel quickly morphed into a blockade of ports and fuel refineries that led to half of Ireland’s 1,500 fuel stations running dry and threatened to shut down the country. Ireland is once again in a rush to catch up with our fellow western nations, such that protest is increasingly the primary language of our politics, both for the Left and the Right. No one seems happy with the status quo, each protest being an expression of the division, disunity and anger that increasingly characterises the political scene in the West. Despite the efforts of politicians and policy experts to come to grips with why this is the case, one of the few world leaders who truly has an answer is our own Pope Leo XIV.
7:47 AM
Ireland’s unrest and the limits of liberal consensus
As demonstrations multiply across Ireland and the West, a Catholic perspective points to a crisis of meaning beneath the surface of public anger
Ruadhan Jones
6 min read
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