Did I mention I was in Cork this week?
Following an earlier trip to Ireland I described the smoking 'area' at a pub in Kilkenny and asked whether it was the best smoking room in the world (taking into account the small matter of Ireland's hugely illiberal anti-smoking laws).
This week we visited a bar in Cork where smokers are similarly well looked after.
It had an outdoor smoking area running the length of the building. This had benches, chairs and tables, plus plants, heaters and ashtrays. Better still it had solid walls on either side of the 'lane' and was covered from one end to the other so customers were well protected from the elements. At one point I even took off my overcoat. (This is January, remember.)
It was busy when we arrived. When we left, well after midnight, the area was awash with people smoking and drinking. Even I, a lifelong non-smoker, succumbed to a cigarette or two. It seemed rude not to.
When we left most of the people around us were students or under 30 and smoking in that environment seemed as natural as, well, breathing.
Let's be clear, though. Smoker-friendly habitats in Ireland are an exception not the rule and the authorities will crack down whenever it suits them.
Shortly before Christmas, for example, we received a tip off that several bars in Dublin had been raided because their 'smoking rooms' were judged to be in breach of the law.
The raids weren't reported by the Irish media but further enquiries revealed that the bars in question are still open and at least one owner told the authorities to "feck off".
That's the spirit.