Traffic was extremely light in Dublin yesterday, despite or maybe because of the IFA protest.
Traffic gridlock had been predicted when it emerged that 300 tractors would be driving into the city on a busy Friday.
However, the protest organisers and gardaí liaised and the so-called tractorcade was escorted into Merrion Square with minimum disruption.
One IFA official said he had never come into the city quicker from the IFA headquarters in Bluebell.
"Maybe we should have one of these every Friday," he suggested.
It was all down to the president of the Irish Farmers Association, Mr John Dillon, according to his deputy president, Mr Ruaidhrí Deasy.
"Dillon delivers" was the president's slogan when he ran for office "and he delivered today. He has delivered to Dublin free traffic. I have never seen Dublin so free," he told the crowd in Merrion Square.
An AA Roadwatch spokeswoman said the city was very quiet yesterday morning and it appeared that many people had taken buses or trains instead of driving. "It was very well organised and we had no reports of black spots," said Ms Lisa Armstrong.
"Some people were back at home by 3.30 p.m. or 4 p.m. It certainly wasn't going to affect rush-hour traffic."
Gardaí had agreed with the IFA in advance to confine the protest to 300 tractors, which would be escorted into the city in six convoys of 50 tractors.
The convoys began moving from 10 a.m. from Maynooth, Swords, Dunshaughlin, Naas, Ashbourne and Bray.
Garda outriders escorted the tractors on hard shoulders and bus lanes and by noon, most were lined up in Merrion Square.
Traffic and parking had been restricted in the area, allowing the tractors to park three and four abreast in some places.
A Garda spokesman said the force was pleased at how the protest went. "There was a minimum of disruption. It was always our intention to facilitate the democratic process and to facilitate people who were going about their business in the city centre and I think we achieved that."
However, the Dublin Chamber of Commerce criticised the protest.
Mr Declan Martin, policy director of the chamber, said the protest had caused businesses to lose money as people had stayed out of the city because they feared getting caught up in gridlock.
What would city businesses face in the future when IFA staged a follow-up to this protest? he asked.
However, Socialist Party TD Mr Joe Higgins said the Chamber of Commerce had engaged in "outrageous scaremongering" over the protest.
"If city businesses lost money as a result of today's demonstration, they can thank the Dublin Chamber of Commerce as they are victims of the chamber's hysterical scaremongering which may have kept people away."
Mr Higgins, who attended the protest, said there was a "great sympathy among urban working people for the plight of the small farming sector".
