Gardaí made five arrests following a public gathering involving tractors and heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) in Cork city centre yesterday (Sunday, April 12).

Shortly after 11:00a.m yesterday morning, gardaí responded to reports of a public gathering at Grand Parade, one of the main streets in the city.

Gardaí said the gathering involved a group of individuals at first but "quickly grew in size" and was joined by several HGVs and tractors.

The people and vehicles involved moved slowly through the city centre for a time.

A garda statement said that the uniformed gardaí and members of the Public Order Unit engaged with the drivers, who agreed to disperse and left the area.

Directions were also issued under the Public Order Unit to a number of individuals instructing them to leave the roadway, some of whom failed to comply.

Five people - four men (two aged in their 50s, one in his 40s and one in his 30s) and one female aged in her 40s - were arrested under the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994.

The arrested individuals were taken to a Garda station in Cork city and later released, having been charged to appear before Cork District Court in the coming weeks.

The remainder of the crowd dispersed peacefully and no injuries were reported, gardaí confirmed.

The garda statement did not indicate whether the arrested individuals were driving any of the vehicles involved.

Protests

The public gathering in Cork city comes as week-long protests, demonstrations and blockades seem to be coming to and end across the country.

Since early yesterday, garda operations at various locations, including at key oil and fuel infrastructure, have been ongoing to remove blockades and secure access for fuel transport vehicles.

Also over the weekend, a "comprehensive" €100 million Fuel Subsidy Support Scheme to assist farmers, agricultural contractors and fishers facing "unprecedented increases" in fuel costs has been announced.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon has confirmed that the payments will cover the months of March up to the end of July which also coincides with peak fuel usage season for field work on farms.

The package comes in response to the sharp rise in the price of marked gas oil, commonly known as green diesel, which has nearly doubled since February due to ongoing geopolitical instability in the Middle East.