Editorial: Trump is the great disruptor
One of the WhatsApp groups I’m in has been buzzing this week with messages about summer holidays abroad.
Unfortunately the messages have not been about where people are going and how excited they are. Instead they were about whether flights in the summer will be affected by the fuel crisis which will escalate over the next while.
The war in Iran is only starting to make its presence really felt and things are going to get much worse. According to Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary, disruption to jet fuel supplies may really affect us in during early May. Speaking on Sky News yesterday morning, he said that if war continues, there is a risk of serious supply disruption in Europe in the summer months.
“Hopefully the war will finish sooner than that and the risk to supply will be eliminated,” he said, adding that the airline is “reasonably well hedged” and has about 80% of its fuel bought forward until March 2027. So it seems likely at the moment that there may well be disruption to flights from May onwards. Perhaps it’s better to plan holidays in Ireland this summer if you haven’t already booked out foreign?
It sounds like a return to the days of the fuel crises of the 1970s are very likely. Many countries have already put in fuel-saving measures like closing schools, having four day weeks and having businesses close early.
Egypt has ordered that all shops, restaurants and shopping centres should close from 9pm to curb energy bills. The Australian state of Victoria has announced plans to make public transport free.
The Sri Lankan government has declared every Wednesday as a public holiday, creating a four-day working week for state institutions, schools and universities. Civil servants are being told to work from home where possible.
On 24 March, the Philippines became the first country in the world to declare a ‘national energy emergency’ due to the war. In Ireland we are not immune either of course. What measures will have to come our way if this illegal and senseless war continues?
There is no immediate end in sight and the US and Israel cannot defeat Iran militarily in the short or medium term.
On Tuesday state media in Iran said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will target US companies in the Middle East from 1 April. They listed 18 companies including Microsoft, Google, Apple, Intel, IBM, Tesla and Boeing.
While many of these companies have locations in Ireland, attacking US companies may be the best way to bring this war to a rapid end.
65 Roses
There are so many important charities and we partner with a number of them in different ways. One of the charities that we like to support in the Cork Independent is Cystic Fibrosis Ireland’s (CFI) 65 Roses Day which takes place on Friday week. See the article on this page for more details and join us in supporting CFI.