{"id":452057,"date":"2026-04-24T19:14:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T19:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/452057\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T19:14:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T19:14:20","slug":"travel-warnings-as-psni-mounts-operation-ahead-of-feared-belfast-airport-fuel-protests-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/452057\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel warnings as PSNI mounts operation ahead of feared Belfast airport fuel protests \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Travellers jetting off for the weekend have been warned to allow extra time after an AI-generated flyer urged fuel<\/a> protesters to target Belfast\u2019s airports and other locations on Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n

A flyer circulating on social media calls for HGV drivers, farmers and members of the public to gather at eight locations across Northern Ireland at 4pm on Friday.<\/p>\n

Among the targets listed is Belfast International Airport<\/a>, with protesters also called to gather at oil terminals on Airport Road and Airport Road West near Belfast City Airport<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A junction on Westbank Road in Belfast is also listed.<\/p>\n

\"Weekend<\/a>\"Elderly<\/a><\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Belfast City Airport said: \u201cProtests planned across Northern Ireland on April 24 may affect travel to and from Belfast City Airport. Passengers are advised to allow extra time for their journey and follow any diversions in place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other locations listed on the flyer include the Tesco regional distribution centre on Boucher Road in Belfast, the Asda RDC in Larne, the Lidl RDC at Nutts Corner, P&O at Larne Harbour, and Seatruck in Warrenpoint.<\/p>\n

Police confirmed they are aware of online calls for further protests this weekend and next week. <\/p>\n

In a statement, Chief Superintendent Norman Haslett said: \u201cWe are aware of posters online calling for further protests at various locations across Northern Ireland this weekend and next week. <\/p>\n

\u201cPreparations for a policing response are underway to ensure public safety and to help minimise any potential disruption to the wider community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly are fundamental human rights. They are protected in law and allow individuals to engage in peaceful protest. However, these rights are limited by the need to uphold the rights of others, protect public health and safety, minimise disruption to normal life and by the need to prevent and detect crime.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose considering protests involving vehicles should be aware that all motorists have to consider other road users, particularly critical blue light or transport services. The Police Service of Northern Ireland is required to balance the rights of all members of the public. This is particularly acute where processions, or protests, may have an impact on critical road users such as blue light services or on significant transport hubs such as airports and railway and bus stations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to police these protests with the \u2018Four Es\u2019 approach of engage, explain, encourage and, where we assess in the context of an individual incident that having had regard to all competing rights, enforcement if necessary. Where a Fixed Penalty Notice is issued to a motorist the recipient has the option to contest the matter in a court. Those organising public processions involving vehicles must also comply with the Public Processions (NI) Act 1998 and the Parades Commission code of conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police issued a total of nine Fixed Penalty Notices when a small number of protesters took to the streets earlier this month and police say that footage from the event is still being reviewed.<\/p>\n

It comes after previous fuel protests in Northern Ireland produced mixed results, with some demonstrations attracting only a handful of vehicles. <\/p>\n

The Ulster Farmers\u2019 Union and Road Haulage Association have both previously distanced themselves from the organisation of any such events.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Travellers jetting off for the weekend have been warned to allow extra time after an AI-generated flyer urged…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452058,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[41],"tags":[59103,199248,9,10,13,14,13143,6,11,12,15,16,5,25125,7,8,65,66,67],"class_list":["post-452057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-belfast-international-airport","tag-belfast-city-airport","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-fuel","tag-headlines","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-protest","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-world","tag-world-news","tag-worldnews"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116461284868789038","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}