Ireland Stubs Out Smoking

February 19, 2004
Angelique Chrisafis
The Guardian

Ireland's ban on smoking in pubs, restaurants and all workplaces will begin on March 29, the government announced yesterday. This follows two months of bureaucratic wrangling and threats of legal challenges. Prison cells, hotel rooms, psychiatric hospitals and nursing homes will be exempt.

The anti-smoking group Ash hailed the national ban, the first in the world, as the health initiative of the century. Smokers and employers caught breaking it will be fined €3,000 (about £2,000). Hotel and pub owners are to consider a high court challenge, claiming the ban will be impossible to enforce.

But the Dublin tourist board is to use it as a marketing device, under the slogan "A breath of fresh air". Companies have already begun advertising canopies, heaters and portable ashtrays for smokers left standing in the cold.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1151220,00.html