So this is what politics looks like when there isn’t a surplus.

At the time of writing on Friday afternoon, it’s not yet clear if there will be a resolution to the fuel blockades that have brought parts of the country to a standstill this week. They got a meeting, but they were never going to get all their demands met. As gardaí prepare to clear essential sites, the fuel protesters will then have a choice to make.

But whatever happens this weekend, recent days have provided us with a window on to a possible future – how things look if you don’t have the benefit of €30 billion of corporation tax from US multinationals gushing into the exchequer every year. How things look if there is a sudden economic shock. How things might work if the Irish Government had to operate in conditions more like everyone else. How things would be if our luck runs out.

Every political problem faced by recent governments has been solved – to a greater or lesser extent – by finding money to throw at it. This has varied in scale – from the billions of euros in additional spending in recent budgets (including the famous three-in-a-row “once-offs” before the last election) to more limited, small-bore interventions like the extra €19 million announced earlier this year to solve a row over special needs assistants.

Cabinet to meet on Sunday as fuel protesters plan major ‘nationwide’ event

Masters 2026 day three: Rory McIlroy gives up lead, ends day tied with Cameron Young - as it happened

Fuel protesters end Whitegate blockade; Garda chief........

© The Irish Times