No laughing matter
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 at 17:10 From today's Irish Times - Ban has had no effect on smokers.
The smoking ban has not had any appreciable effect on the number of smokers in Ireland, the chief medical officer at the Departmen of Health has said.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Over 1000 pubs have closed and thousands of bar workers have lost their jobs since the smoking ban was introduced in Ireland in 2004.
And for what? Where is the evidence that people are significantly healthier as a result of this mindless piece of political grandstanding?
Meanwhile Forest Eireann's tour of Ireland continues to attract the interest of the local media. Here's the latest report, from the Galway Independent:
I couldn't have put it better myself.
John Mallon will be writing about the tour when he returns home. Last night, in Galway, he met publican and hotelier Ronan Lawless who is a registered supporter of Forest Eireann.
The name may not mean much to you but in 2004 Ronan was the co-owner of a pub, Fibber Magee's, that attracted worldwide publicity when the proprietors challenged the ban and allowed customers to smoke in one of two bars.
(See Irish pub defies anti-smoking law and Irish pub ends smoking rebellion.)
The upshot? Fines totalling 22,000 euros. (The last we heard he was selling up and moving to Florida.)
Ronan now owns the Forster Court Hotel in Galway city centre. Can't wait to hear what he had to say.
PS. On Friday John and I spent a pleasant half hour in a pub in Kilkenny talking to the owner who applauded the ban, saying it had helped him give up smoking.
Without warning (and without irony) he then castigated successive governments and claimed that Ireland had become a "totalitarian" country.
We couldn't persuade him to support our campaign but we got on so well he wouldn't let us pay for our drinks.
That's Ireland for you.
Reader Comments (3)
I did read the number of smokers in Ireland did actually incease, it just shows that smoking bans don't reduce the number of smokers. After a conversation I had with someone who works for a major supermarket chain, she told me that tobacco sales have been soaring.
in the last year. So will it be only a matter of time when we start seeing reports like this here in the UK, who know's?. When you was in Killkenny Simon the guy in the pub said he applauded the smoking ban and you couldn't persuade him to join the campaign, well I knew someone like that who thought the smoking ban was going to attract many new customers into his pub, he didn't support any campaign to fight the smoking ban and the end result was, the pub went out of business. And there is one thing I do know out where I live I've been reliable informed that a few licensee's have given up on this current goverment.
Might be interesting to find out what the effect of pub closures has had on drinking in Ireland...
More interesting would be to ask why Ireland differs from Scotland where the percentage of smokers fell from 29% overall in 2003 to 25% in 2009. Every age and sex category fell over that period except, strangely 65-75 yo women.
And not only the number of smokers fell, but those who did smoke were smoking less. What are the stats on how much the Irish smokers consume? Because if they are smoking and drinking less, even if they are still doing it, it has to be a good thing - doesn't it?
I think that they don't have enough information or they don't know if it would do something different but they want to affect a economic sector that a lot people live for. I hope that they don't want to take on Generic Viagra next.