The past ten days of blockades and fuel protests have shown us just how complicated politics, policies and communication have become in our fractured modern world.

What started as a protest from farmers and hauliers rightly worried about the future of their livelihoods slowly then not-so-slowly morphed into full-on critical infrastructure blockades, stand offs with gardaí and the unwelcome sight of serial protestors on the far-right finding yet another issue of public opinion to latch themselves onto.

The far-right’s ability to insert themselves into protests were in part a result of organisers being difficult to pin down amid different Facebook pages and WhatsApp groups.

A number of voices emerged as national spokespeople for the farmers and hauliers but the lack of a clear leader resulted in a farcical situation on Newstalk on Monday when Kildare farmer John Dallon informed listeners that, even though he was a spokesperson for the protests he was in no way an organiser of the protests, didn’t know what was happening with any potential further protests and was there to speak on behalf of the people of Ireland.

The blockades themselves were both effective and counterproductive at the same time.

They did force the hands of the government, however, many of those involved in the blockades used tractors to block roads despite the fact some of those hurting most as a result were themselves farmers who have struggled with accessing both fertiliser and feed for livestock.

The government’s response to this crisis will need a serious post-mortem, with the high level of public support for the protests testament to the general public opinion of our elected representatives.

In a world where the government is seen more favourably, it’s harder to see people supporting those who are blocking fuel and supplies during a fuel crisis.

Patience among the general public was beginning to wane by the time the majority of protests and blockades ended earlier this week – many of the public were willing to back them while it meant fuel was in short supply, the potential for food shortages in the near future would see support plummet.

The real culprit in all of this is, once again, Donald Trump. The US President started this war and is currently enforcing his own sort of blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, which will only cause more hardship for consumers and businesses across the world.

When the eventual and likely recession hits as a result of his actions, how many will protest outside his Doonbeg resort when it hosts the Irish Open later this year?

The vote of no confidence in the government on Tuesday was predictably defeated due to the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael majority, but should such an issue be used as a political football at a time when, as the past two weeks have shown, so many people are struggling and need real, definitive help?

One thing this whole period should do is crystallise the importance of reducing our reliance on fossil fuels altogether, to get us to a point where disruptions in global supply chains aren’t felt so strongly.

Ironically, one of the main things it has done is forced a U-turn from the government to defer the carbon tax hike until the Budget.

That will help wallets in the short-term but failure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030? That could cost billions in EU fines.

Lunar musings

The NASA moon mission received acres of media coverage but at a time of such uncertainty for our own planet it failed to resonate with many.

Costly space programmes are at best questionable and at worst whimsical at a time when military conflict closer to home is causing a fuel crisis and in all likelihood about to trigger a global recession.

The Artemis II astronauts received a hero’s welcome after their triumphant touch-down. Perhaps well deserved; it was most probably the culmination of their life’s ambition.

But while they looped the Moon that does not mean the next generation is any closer to living or working on the lunar surface any time soon.

So what was it all for? And what better use could have been made of the resources invested in it? For many, the expedition raised more questions than answers.