Smoke ban a breathtaking success

krsna · March 30, 2004

By Shawn Pogatchnik in Dublin

March 30, 2004

MOST bar owners and pub goers declared Ireland's smoking ban a breathtaking success today, a day after the country became the first in the world to outlaw tobacco in workplaces.

Publicans, the government and anti-smoking activists agreed Ireland's largely trouble-free introduction of the ban Monday should inspire other nations to do the same.

"Many countries are watching us in the belief that if it can succeed in Ireland, it can succeed anywhere," said Luke Clancy, chairman of the Irish chapter of a United States-based pressure group called Action on Smoking and Health.

Mr Clancy described the government's decision to outlaw smoking inside more than 10,000 pubs in the country of 3.9 million as "a cultural shift which I believe will see the rate of smoking drop greatly and relatively quickly.

"In my clinic, people tell me all the time that they only smoke when they're in the pub," said Clancy, who has identified pubs as Ireland's No 1 recruiting ground for young smokers.

Health Minister Micheal Martin, who announced plans for the ban 14 months ago, also outlawed the sale of 10-cigarette packets and ordered shops to lock up stocks of tobacco products rather than display them.

He hoped such measures will discourage youths from starting.

He rejected criticism the ban was denying smokers their civil liberties.

"The only fundamental right I see here is the right of a worker to work in a clean, safe environment," said Martin, who predicted 150 fewer people in Ireland would die from smoking-related illnesses each year.

Bar managers, customers and police reported few troubles as smokers largely opted to take their habit outdoors onto the pavement last night.

Most pubs had already erected signs at the front doors warning violators faced up to a fine of up to £1000.