Just back from Ireland.
On Friday, in Kilkenny, John Mallon and I stumbled upon what I can only describe as the best smoking room I have ever seen.
I can't even begin to do justice to this temple to tobacco so here's what the pub itself has to say on its impressive website:
One noted industry professional recently said “I have seen the future of the pub trade and its name is The Tobacco Shop at Matt’s”. Smoking areas have become an integral part of the social fabric prevalent in Irish Pubs and cognisant of this the team at Matt’s have recently added 'The Tobacco Shop' to cater for this very important need. You can now enjoy a smoke in comfort and have a drink, a coffee or a bite to eat in style without getting pneumonia or being left out in the cold! The Tobacco Shop is serviced by its own full service bar, is fully furnished and is perfect no matter what the weather may bring. You really do have to see it to believe it.
The room is up three flights of stairs and overlooks the river. You enter via a non-smoking bar on same floor so although it was built as an extension it feels part of the original building, which has yet another bar on the ground floor.
On Friday afternoon the smoking room was cool yet comfortable with not a whiff of tobacco, stale or otherwise, until John lit up. (Even then it was barely noticeable.) By comparison, the rest of the pub seemed rather stuffy.
Outside it was raining but inside The Tobacco Shop the weather wasn't a problem because – according to a member of staff – the velux windows shut automatically when it rains.
Smoking rooms come in all shapes and sizes in Ireland and initiatives like this give smokers a place where they can eat, drink and smoke in comfort without inconveniencing a single non-smoker. (Bar staff, we were led to believe, can choose whether they wish to work in there.)
The Tobacco Shop shames everyone who supports the vindictive, illiberal regulations in Britain. Somehow we have to convince politicians and pubcos that facilities like this represent the future of the hospitality industry, not the past.
Update: One or two of you are asking 'How is this allowed?'. We asked the same question and although a direct answer wasn't forthcoming, we were assured, by a member of staff, that planning permission had been granted.
The difference, I suspect, is down to interpretation of the regulations (which may be less restrictive in Ireland) plus a willingness, on the part of some authorities in Ireland, to adopt a more attitude towards smoking rooms and their patrons.
Last year, as it happens, I wrote a post (Postcard from Ireland) that included a comment that in hindsight seems rather prescient:
Interestingly, it does seem that the authorities are enforcing the law less rigorously than when [the smoking ban] was first introduced in 2004, and people are finding ways round it.
At the very least Britain should follow Ireland's example. Sadly, British bureaucrats are notorious sticklers for rules and regulations so a formal amendment to the legislation remains our preferred choice.
Simon Clark