Smokers barred from Irish pubs
Monday, March 29, 2004
DUBLIN, Republic of Ireland -- Ireland's controversial new anti-smoking law has kicked in, delighting health campaigners while promising hefty fines to those who defy the ban.
The measure began midnight Sunday, meaning it is now illegal to light up in pubs and restaurants, closed public spaces, most workplaces and on public transport.
Transgressors face fines of up to 3,000 euros ($3,825).
The law makes Ireland the first country in the world to ban smoking nationally. Similar bans are imposed in some cities and states throughout the world including California and New York.
Irish Health Minister Michael Martin marked the first day of the new law by tucking into a smoke free breakfast at a cafe in Dublin.
Martin said Ireland's high rate of high disease made the law a "no brainer".
"We have to do something extra, go the extra mile, to get that rate down," Martin said.
Ireland has Europe's highest rate of heart disease, with around 7,000 people die each year from smoking related illnesses.
The government claims that around two-thirds of Irish people support the ban on smoking in workplaces, according to the government, and even 40 percent of smokers are in favor of it.
Health groups also applauded the law.
"Earlier this year I referred to this legislation as the health initiative of the century," said Professor Luke Clancy, chairman of ASH Ireland, according to Reuters. "I have no doubt that research will in time justify this statement.
But not all were convinced.
Facing the brunt of the anti-smoking law are Ireland's many pubs and drinking haunts.
Around 28 percent of Ireland's adult population smoke and for many, a cigarette and a pint have been a way of life.
Nick Bish, chairman of the Charter Group that represents 14 separate industry organizations in the UK, said following the examples in the United States, the new law would lead to a loss of revenue, particularly among bars and pubs.
"Logic suggests that it will modify people's behavior, " Bish told CNN. "We found in New York that people weren't going out so often and they were leaving earlier."
"Understandably, there are sales dips -- down 20-30 percent -- and job losses up to 10 percent."
Under the new legislation, publicans could be prosecuted -- and could have their liquor license provoked -- if they fail to impose the law and many say the ban is simply too difficult for them to police.
"There are pubs, particularly in rural Ireland, where you have old folk coming in who have been sitting in the same seats for 30, 40, or even 50 years," Reuters quoted Con Dennehy, owner of a pub in the southern city of Cork, on the eve of the ban.
"It's going to be very difficult for publicans to ask those people who have been so loyal to them over the years to desist from smoking."
Monitoring the success of Ireland's bold move is the rest of Europe.
Norway is set to follow Ireland's lead and impose a similar ban in June.
European Union health commissioner David Byrne has said he would like to see the experiment mirrored across the bloc.
