This morning's move by An Garda Síochána to request assistance from the Defence Forces to remove blockades of critical national infrastructure comes after a significant ramping up of the Government's criticism of the protests.
That culminated in the Taoiseach's description last night of the blockade of Whitegate refinery as "national sabotage".
Against that backdrop and following a meeting between the Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan and the Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly, the C70 request to the Defence Forces was prepared overnight and completed this morning.
"The blocking of critical national infrastructure will not be permitted to continue," the minister said as he confirmed the request was made.
C70 requests from gardaí to the Defence Forces happen on a fairly regular basis when gardaí are faced with situations for which they do not have the capability themselves to deal with.
This is known as 'Aid to the Civil Power’ or ATCP.
The most common use is when bomb threats are made, and devices have to be investigated by the Defence Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit.
C70 requests were also commonly made during the Troubles in the 1970s and 1980s when gardaí requested the backup of the Defence Forces during security operations against the IRA and armed republicans.
C70s are also used if old ordnance dating back to the War of Independence of the Civil War is discovered and controlled explosions must be carried out.
In the current situation, gardaí do not have the heavy lifting or towing capability that would be required to move lorries or large agricultural vehicles, but engineers in the Defence Forces do.
An Aid to the Civil Power request is generally made by a regional garda commander via a C70 form which goes to the Defence Forces who then work to provide the assistance requested.
ATCP is different to Aid to the Civil Authorities, whereby soldiers may sometimes be requested by local authorities who need help to deal with unusual situations.
Examples of that in the past involved assistance with flooding incidents and rubbish collection.
