No more smelly smoky bars

Ste k

Well its looked like it was always going to happend but this time next year you wouldnt be able to light up in any bar or resturant or even workplace in Ireland.

I have never smoked so this doesnt really bother me, well in fact it probably does because now my clothes wont stink from other people smoke which has been in their lungs.

Do you honestly think that pubs will suffer dramatically, will people go to whealans, I think it now gives the people a chance to give up who used the "I have to smoke when I'm out" excuse.

Funny thing is I dont think this was debated in the Dail, probably cause its a health and saftey issue.

Either one good decision by the government, I empathise with the smokers but the majority rules, or who ever has the biggest brown envelope in this country.

Stub it out

polarbelly

i think its great

i HAVE to give up now... whens it being enforced???

the66electric

1st of January 2004.

Smoke em if ya got em.

Ste k

And if you aint got em your gonna hit rock bottom,

or cold turkey

the66electric

Alright, go on then, just the one...

BrianD

Not before its time! Though the ban only extends to hours when food is being served and around the bar areas (as in right at the bar).

Like everything else, Irish people hate change and no doubt will debate and bitch about it for eons. Bottom line is only 30% of people smoke so why should the rest of us suffer!

What ever about pubs, restaurants should be non-smoking immediately. International experience has shown that restaurant patronage has increased as soon as a complete ban on smoking is imposed.

In California, smoking is banned in bars - though Irish bars seem to be willing to pay the fines - and It dosn't seem to have affected the pub trade. Do you honestly see us Irish forsaking our pubs because of a smoking ban?

Monkey

It should be up to the publican

Space Coyote

Aw man, now I won't be able to burn smiley faces in the back of peoples suede jackets.

o sleep

Originally posted by BrianD
International experience has shown that restaurant patronage has increased as soon as a complete ban on smoking is imposed.

In California, smoking is banned in bars - though Irish bars seem to be willing to pay the fines - and It dosn't seem to have affected the pub trade.

i love this. where do you get your figures from? how do you know it hasn't affected the pub trade? a friend of mine from san francisco (which is just as valid as statistics) says that there was some report saying that there has been a steady decrease in trade since the ban, but as they can't prove it was because of the ban (i think the state are claiming it's a coincidence, which it could very well be) nothing's being done. also, there was a coffee shop in town, on duke lane i think it was, who initiated a completely no smoking policy a while back, but changed back after a month bcos well people just stopped going. i guess if ALL coffee shops were non-smoking people wouldn't have a choice though.

i'd like to see the same initiatives implemeted against alcohol: warnings (because god knows they work), larger increase in the price etc to get people to give up drinking. it's not as dangerous as smoking, but it still kills. although i think the pub union (whatever it's called) would have something to say about that. majority rules my ass.

Ste k

Originally posted by BrianD
Not before its time! Though the ban only extends to hours when food is being served and around the bar areas (as in right at the bar).

ACtually its a total ban and not just at the bar. They said they cant physical or logistically control that. I suppose smoke floats.

I dont think the publicans can really complain that much they have had an unprecendented 41% growth in the consumption of alcohol in the last ten years, I the price of a pint has certainly risen much quicker than inflation.

I wouldnt do this country much harm if we actually stayed out of the bars so much, but do you really think that people will just because the cant smoke. Come on lads we have a sterotype to fill for all the foreigners working in the bars

Mewzel

i cant wait! ive never smoked and it always annoys me that i go home after a night out, stinking of smoke. bring it on i say.....

lamda

Well i kinda feel sorry for the smokers... I dont think there should be smoking at gigs, but i dont particularly mind it in pubs...
But god! Does this mean there will be no more smoking section in UCD???? Please God!! There is a big smoke cloud all over the damn arts building... but then where will the socialists hang out?? Oh dear...:rolleyes:

Pearl

I was in a pub in Malahide on Sunday that had a non-smoking section and it was extremely pleasant, being a rabid anti-smoker. There was a couple of families with young children and colouring books, all quite civilised and with relatively clean air.

Nothing worse than being surrounded by fag wavers at a gig, and clothes stinking the next day. Roll on Jan 04.

stimpson

To all the smokers who think its about their rights being trampled on by non smokers its not - its about protecting the health of people who work in bars and restaurants who are dying so you can get you fix.

the day of the smoker in Ireland is gone - get over it!

o sleep

i wish trinity would have a smoking section inside, but i guess it would be outlawed within a couple of months, so it doesn't really matter.

i've always found it incredibly depressing when parents bring their children into pubs for the whole day on a sunday. civilised it ain't, smoking or non-smoking.

while i agree with the new legislation (well, kind of) i do find the governments position somewhat confusing. if cigarette smoking is causing all this damage - both to smokers and non-smokers due to passive smoking, and with the huge money it apparently costs the health care system to take care of everyone who gets sick from smoking - why don't they just make smoking illegal? it's very odd. i guess with all this legislation, it's going to be alot harder for any pro-cannabis legislation to be brought in as well. oh well, california here we come ... except with crappy weather.

bobzee

I think its great that smoking will be banned from pubs...as an asthma sufferer it really effects me when I I want to go to a gig or out for a few drinks...

my only gripe about is why wait until next year?...its been talked about now for quite a while..why next bring it in in 6 months time or earlier...

of course its not really going to work..how will they police it??..I can't imagine a barman in whelans throwing somebody out because they were smoking...I mean they are not supposed to sell beer to people who are drunk but it doesn't stop them does it...

incidentally...I lived in Norway for a while..and smoking has been banned from around the bar area of pubs for years now....

shabbyroad

they'll have to learn how to police it.
let's put it this way :

there are bars in Dublin that won't let you in if you're wearing sneakers - they police that
there are bars in Dublin that won't let you in if they don't like the look of you - they police that
if you urinate on someone they'll throw you out
if you vomit on someone they'll throw you out
if you refuse to pay for your drink they'll throw you out
if you buy/sell/take drugs they'll throw you out

all they have to do is add another one to the list and I will have great pleasure in reporting the feckers to the EHB if they don't comply.

I can't wait - at last I will be able to enjoy going to a pub for a drink without spending the night on a feckin' nebuliser or having to wash every stitch of clothing. Or having to go to hospital because some gob****e with a cigarette accidentally flicked ash into my eye (Point Depot 1996) - feckin hell if I waved a lighted stick around in a pub I'd be thrown out pretty sharpish.

why we have to wait until next year is beyond me.

Tyrrial

I HATE SMOKERS, IGNORANT BASTARDS!!!!


(no effence to smokers i don't know... i was on a bus today and the selfish bastard has now made me stink of HIS damn smoke)

i think if someone damages me with there smoke i should be aloud to jab the same smoke into their eye. they hurt my body i hurt theirs.....


ohh that felt good

o sleep

they police certain things (people wearing sneakers, not liking the look of you) because (a) bouncers are high on their own power and (b) they're given orders by the pub to keep their clientel to a certain standard, presumably the standard that will pay as much money in the pub. this is why they don't police the rule that you're not allowed to serve alcohol to a drunk person. so im wondering if they'll police the non-smoking rule if they perceive this rule as being damaging to their income. as for the guy complaining about the person burning him with a cigarette butt: yes, incredibly annoying and it's happened to me too, but when my friend had the **** kicked out of him by a group of drunken knackers, well ... which would you say is worse?

i support the legislation, but only on a completely selfish level: it will help me personally give up when i decide to do so (in the summer) ... i'm just wondering where the legislation will eventually end at.

BrianD

Yep, the vintners are whinging..."How will we police it and what about the poor 80 year old oub owner will be beaten to a pulp for asking somebody to put out a ciggie? etc. etc. Pub owners fight every piece of change tooth and nail.

The fact is 70% of the population don't smoke and when these types of proactive laws are brought in the numbers of people who start smoking diminishes. Pubs and restaurants are under the impression that some how smokers are "better" patrons than non-smokers. The reality is that restaurants and pubs have increased their trade in other countries where outright bans have been imposed. Why do vintners insist on allowing smoking when the majority of their customers oppose it?

Ironically, of the three things generally available in pubs - alcohol, food and tobacco - cigarettes are the only item that you are allowed bring into a pub from outside and freely consume!

o sleep

Originally posted by BrianD
Ironically, of the three things generally available in pubs - alcohol, food and tobacco - cigarettes are the only item that you are allowed bring into a pub from outside and freely consume!

dear god, no!

em ... what's your point?

Silverfish

Hmmm, curious indeed.

So I tried this experiment last night.

It seems that if I walk up to the door of a pub with a three course meal balanced on my forearms, they'll stop me. i can only consume food that I buy inside.

If I walk up to the door of a pub carrying a pint of guinness, they'll stop me. I can only consume guinness I buy inside.

But here's the sneaky one. I put twenty marlboro lights in my pocket, walked up to the door, AND THEY LET ME STRAIGHT IN!!!
AND even better, the box I had was IDENTICAL to the ones they sold inside, so they couldn't prove I didn't buy them there. Sweet.


Anyway, I have to say, I can't smoke on buses, so i don't, and I disaprove of any ignorant idiot who does. I can't smoke in non smoking sections of restaurants, so I don't, and again disaprove of anyone who does.
I'm renting a house in Dublin, I can't smoke in it, so I don't.

But if the publicans say I can't smoke while having an overpriced pint, then feck off, I'll get a few bottles and stay home. Even my mother, an active anti-smoker, thinks the whole thing is stupid.

Its like turkeys voting for Christmas.

BrianD

O sleep, if smoke is such an integral part of the Irish pub why arn't they insisting on people buying the fags they smoke in the bar. Afterall, you don't bring in the alcohol you drink. Pubs don't make much money out of cigarette sales and 70% of people don't smoke so why fight the ban so vigorously??

DerekD Goldfish

I used to work in a pub and one of the main reasons I quit was the smoke.

Whenever I go out im always coughing and splutering.

At least I will be able to breate when ever I go out for a pint.

o sleep

i guess it has something to do with the example silverfish gave.
cigarettes are identical, pretty much no matter where you go, so enforcing a strict policy of only smoking cigarettes you bought in the pub would be a little naive. pubs would probably have to market their own cigarettes, to differentiate them from the ones sold in shops, and if they were to do so, they'd probably be a lot more expensive than normal cigarettes, so people wouldn't buy them.

but i have to agree with silverfish. if i'm still smoking when the ban comes in, the idea of an over priced pint and no smoking would probably make me switch to going to a party or just drinking at home. perhaps that's what the publicans are worried about? i guess they've done their own independant research into non-smoking pubs, i mean pub owners, despite generally being assholes, aren't stupid. i don't think this reaction against the ban is just knee-jerk. so, yeah, i'd ask the same question: why ARE the pub owners so against this when only 30% of the population smoke? maybe they know something we don't?

Tom182

OK OK...As a non smoker,I feel this is going to be one of those laws that is going to cause so much friction.....

I've got 2 valid points to back this up,so bear with me

1:You're going to have the scumbag smoker,that doesn't give a sh*t anyway,saying I'm going to have a schmoke where ever I bleedin' want.And if he's there with 5 or 6 of his mates,who's going to have the balls to tell him/her(all things being equal!!)to put it out......

2:And at the other end of the spetrum,you have the 70 year old who has his usual couple of mid-week pints,is the publican really going to tell him that he can't smoke having probably been a regular there for 30 years or more?????? I don't think so,and I don't think it's very fair.

It will be quite interesting to see how this pans out.....

Morn

They are good points, but I think number 1, from your description is going to find trouble anyway and similar people frequently get removed from pubs/club etc.
And as for number 2 - sure things'll have to change - but all he has to do is step outside for a cigarette! Is that so much to ask to stop bar-staff dying of lung cancer?

If all the pub-owners are complaining with this new legislation because they expect smokers to drink at home/at parties rather then going out to pubs does that mean that the folks who run off-licences are jumping for joy?

o sleep

i think tom182 has a point. although a smoker myself, i find it incredibly rude and ignorant when smokers light up on the bus or whenever (which is why i'd support this legislation if and when it goes through), but i know i just sit there and would never in a million years actually confront the person in question. it's just too risky. now, if i'm like that to someone who's on a bus, what would i be like to someone who's in a pub, having had seven or eight pints, i'd be even more reluctant.

Silverfish

o sleep, exactly.


And do you know whats going to happen?

some little scumbag with his mates as per Tom182's case story, IS going to light up in a pub, and I know he's just going to be let smoke, while I sit there not smoking, because those are the rules.

And before all you anti-smokers jump up and down screeching 'Oh but he'll be thrown out' and so on, you're all referring to city centre pubs with bouncers on the door and so on.

In any of my local pubs, there's just the bar staff. Most of them very young. I can't see them taking on Anto Deco Eamo and Shamo for smoking.

Same as on the buses....why do I obey the rules when I so obviously wouldn't be punished for not obeying them?

polarbelly

Originally posted by Morn
does that mean that the folks who run off-licences are jumping for joy?

yep

polarbelly

Originally posted by Silverfish
Anto Deco Eamo and

dont forget sambo and tucker....

ever notice every knacker group has them

dead right though silverfish my local's barstaff are often quite young, and cant see them tryin it on with the local scum