The smoking ban - 10 year anniversary

Mr.McLovin

29th of March 2004 and the smoking ban was introduced...

Seems like only yesterday I was puffing away at my desk in work

I remember saying how it wouldn't work, we'll get pissed and light up

I think the numbers of smokers are up though? So maybe the desired effect hasn't happened. I did hear on the radio this morning that 4,000 lives have been saved as a result of the ban but I don't really know how you come to that conclusion or number.

snubbleste

A good thing done by FF.
What did I just say!

Toto Wolfcastle

Whether it has helped decrease the amount of people who smoke or not, when I'm on a night out I don't go home with clothes that smell like cigarette smoke. That alone is worth it.

shopaholic01

I loved smoking in pubs.

When the ban first came in I remember noticing the smell of the toilets and BO as soon as you walked into a pub.

AlanG

Have to agree it is great not to stink of smoke after a night out, also as a former bar worker I am sure it has had a positive impact on the health of workers.

COYW

snubbleste wrote: »

A good thing done by FF.
What did I just say!

To be fair, this ban and the plastic bag levy were two excellent changes introduced around that time. That government was flying at the time.

Mr.McLovin

shopaholic01 wrote: »

I loved smoking in pubs.

When the ban first came in I remember noticing the smell of the toilets and BO as soon as you walked into a pub.

Also Guinness farts are more disgusting as the smoke often help mask them

was.deevey

Whatever the number of lives saved, the government must now feel its time to break even and follow the EU Vaping regulations rather than standing up and excusing ourselves from their irrational thinking.

helimachoptor

wow time flies..

Ruu

It'll kill the pub trade!

Wait..no it didn't.

Muise...

It's made cigarette smoke a rare thing indoors, which increases it's value IMO. Sometimes, if it's raining, the workers in the office on the ground floor of my building smoke in the little room off the stairs that's used as a store cupboard. I can smell it all the way up the stairs at my door and it makes me so nostalgic. I quit years ago, and I don't miss smoking, but I miss the smell and the little rituals that went with it.

orchidsrpretty

I'm really happy that the ban came in and worked so well. I was 19 when it was introduced so I wasn't really into going to pubs for anything but drinking. Nowadays I love going in the afternoon for a bite and a pint. I couldn't imagine eating in a place that was filled with smoke. It would really turn me off.
Was pub grub as popular back then or is it only since the bans that most pubs offer some kind of food?

beano345

Im a smoker and i still think this was the best thing to happen in bars,I'd say a lot of people met and became couples from chatting in the smoking area

SEPT 23 1989

the only thing i miss is the smoking carriage on the intercity trains

everyone smoked and drank plenty

good times

mikemac1

I was a barman when it was introduced. No more wiping 40 ashtrays with a damp cloth 3 times a night, huzzah!

The complaints didn't end though as I had people complaing to me about smokers in the beer garden. What do you expect me to do?

That was on Joe Duufy two weeks ago and there are proposals to ban it from beer gardens

SEPT 23 1989

mikemac1 wrote: »

there are proposals to ban it from beer gardens

final nail in the coffin for the pub trade

snubbleste

Smoking should be banned within 10m-20m of a doorway imho.

Wibbs

Ruubot2 wrote: »

It'll kill the pub trade!

Wait..no it didn't.

Well... It could be argued it was a factor in the noticeable drop off in pub takings in the noughties(along with daft pricing).

rubadub

mikemac1 wrote: »

That was on Joe Duufy two weeks ago and there are proposals to ban it from beer gardens

In the marjoirty of pubs I have been in its illegal to smoke in what people presume to be "smoking areas" i.e. they do not qualify as acceptable under the law so are considered to be indoors.

Guy:Incognito

snubbleste wrote: »

Smoking should be banned within 10m-20m of a doorway imho.

Theres plenty of places with signs all over the place near the door about not smoking. Most of them have smokers standing under them.

Hospitals allowing smoking on their grounds is ridiculous imo. Having to walk through a cloud of smoke to get in to one is so far beyond that it isn't funny. Tallaght hospital even has a nice canopied walkway to capture it all.

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

final nail in the coffin for the pub trade

You could ban clothes in pubs for old people , but make drink cheap enough and people will flood in.

Legs.Eleven

Tried to give up when it came in but everyone started going outside and that's where the craic was, so I started again.

Gave up 4 years ago (I can't believe it's been 4 years!) though and like Muise above, I miss the rituals and the craic outside but not the smoking itself.

shopaholic01

beano345 wrote: »

Im a smoker and i still think this was the best thing to happen in bars,I'd say a lot of people met and became couples from chatting in the smoking area

''Do you have a light?'' became a chat-up line overnight.

The Backwards Man

I miss paying stupid money for a drink in a pub only for some tube to flick ash in it, and saying ara fcuk it and drinking it anyway.

Penny Tration

This thread makes me want a smoke

suicide_circus

Ruubot2 wrote: »

It'll kill the pub trade![

no that'll be the rip off prices, mafia like vintners association ,poor selection of drink and food and publicans refusal to move with the times.

krudler

Best thing to ever happen nights out here, I was in Spain a while back before they brought it in and forgot how awful it is reeking of stale fag smoke when you don't smoke yourself after being on a night out

Muise...

Legs.Eleven wrote: »

Tried to give up when it came in but everyone started going outside and that's where the craic was, so I started again.

Gave up 4 years ago (I can't believe it's been 4 years!) though and like Muise above, I miss the rituals and the craic outside but not the smoking itself.

4 years me too, smokey-twin! Though I did have a puff last month after working for hours in the cold to clear storm damage. Twas a job-well-done sigh of bliss, followed by an unblissful splutter. I'll have to keep getting my kicks vicariously so.

Mr. Incognito

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

final nail in the coffin for the pub trade

This is nonsense.

The pub numbers are down because the cartel that controls pricing - The vinters association demands that we have to pay a fiver a drink when the same six bottles are on sale in aldi for 2 for the lot.

People are sick of being fleeced. In pubs that have reduced prices like Diceys Gardens business is booming.

Idiots and Greed.

jester77

I remember the first time I returned to Ireland after it was brought in. The first thing I remember was being able to see the front door of the pub from my usual corner, usually the place would have been cloudy.

No smoking ban here, some places it can be a bit much and leave you half hoarse. Worst thing is the smell of the smoke running out of your hair the next morning in the shower

Dravokivich

They should have brought in proper regulations around ventilation. That would have been progressive. Probably cost too much to enforce/inspect though.

/nonsmoker

smileyj1987

I'm a smoker and I can honestly say because of smoking outdoors when I'm out has made me carry on that habit at home . So I think it is a good thing . I choose to smoke so I should do it out doors so I'm the only one feeling the effects of it .
Banning smoking in pub beer gardens is a stupid idea and should never happen .

rubadub

smileyj1987 wrote: »

Banning smoking in pub beer gardens is a stupid idea and should never happen .

Many are illegal. If you are in a beer garden and coughing or annoyed by smoke its probably one of the illegal ones, i.e. it is not an area where smoking is permitted.

iDave

Does the Vintners Federation of Ireland still run the country or has power returned to politicians?

anncoates

Great piece of legislation.

Remember going away just after the ban had been brought in here and being overwhelmed by the smokiness of the bar we were in. Incredible to think that we endured it for so long.

despot

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Hospitals allowing smoking on their grounds is ridiculous imo. Having to walk through a cloud of smoke to get in to one is so far beyond that it isn't funny. Tallaght hospital even has a nice canopied walkway to capture it all.
.

The smoking areas are usually out of the way enough, the problem is people can't be arsed going to them, like you say people tend to just stay around the canopy of Tallaght Hospital as if it's another smoking area.

They're making the entire grounds smoke free now though. Can't even smoke an electric. When I was there last a few months ago they were digging up one of the smoking areas and told me to go to the second one (with my electric) and when I got there I was asking the security, who told me they'll be getting rid of that one too. Anyone who wants to smoke will have to go out past the entrance.

mikemac1

If they ever ban smoking on the grounds of Beaumont hospital you've a fair walk out to the road :pac:

maguic24

Mr.McLovin wrote: »

29th of March 2004 and the smoking ban was introduced...

Seems like only yesterday I was puffing away at my desk in work

I remember saying how it wouldn't work, we'll get pissed and light up

I think the numbers of smokers are up though? So maybe the desired effect hasn't happened. I did hear on the radio this morning that 4,000 lives have been saved as a result of the ban but I don't really know how you come to that conclusion or number.

Man I feel old! I remember going to my first youth disco and getting my cardigan burned with a cigarette. :mad: Everyone was smoking.....seems weird thinking about it now.

Penny Tration

mikemac1 wrote: »

If they ever ban smoking on the grounds if Beaumont hospital you've a fair walk out to road :pac:

They did ban it. Then about six months later, partitioned a spot next to the bus stops where you can smoke

whisky_galore

Ruubot2 wrote: »

It'll kill the pub trade!

Wait..no it didn't.

Rural pubs were pretty much screwed anyway with (quite rightly) drink driving laws, unless they have some serious bells and whistles, i.e. good food, they're fcuked.

Good riddance to ciggies, with the manky smell the morning after and burns on your clothes.

Jinonatron

Go skiing in Austria all the time. Smoker indoors everywhere. Can't believe the still don't have a ban.

Guy:Incognito

green_screen wrote: »

They did ban it. Then about six months later, partitioned a spot next to the bus stops where you can smoke

That's the responsible attitude a hospital should have.

hfallada

Jinonatron wrote: »

Go skiing in Austria all the time. Smoker indoors everywhere. Can't believe the still don't have a ban.

Smoking rates in German speaking countries are in the mid 30%. I went to Berlin last month and you can light up anywhere and no one will say a thing.

SpaceTime

Where did that decade go?! The lack of passive smoke must have made time seem to go faster or something.

Scotty P

One of mates has a seven year old daughter and a two year son that wouldn't be here but for the smoking ban, as he met his wife out having a smoke not long after the ban came in.

Indeed, I'd say the smoking area has hooked more people up than a Lisdoonvarna matchmaker.

Spunge

I must have stolen 1000e worth of gargle thanks at that time thanks to the free table outside the smoking area back then, and everyone drinking pints of fat frog.

yes i am scum

Khannie

Wow. I'm off cigarettes 10 years in 5 days then.

Thank you, smoking ban.

maguic24

Rewind 10 years and I bet there's a thread with everyone giving out stink about the government for introducing the smoking ban. I remember at the time there being absolute uproar.

Scotty P

maguic24 wrote: »

Rewind 10 years and I bet there's a thread with everyone giving out stink about the government for introducing the smoking ban. I remember at the time there being absolute uproar.

Here's two with some, given hindsight, funny / interesting replies:

Smoking Ban - Fair or Unfair?
Smoking Ban today?

rubadub

Scotty P wrote: »

Here's two with some, given hindsight, funny / interesting replies:

Even with hindsight you hear similar crap coming out regarding the new ban on vapour producing nicotine replacement devices on trains etc.

Many people making out that the only reason we should see a ban is if they can prove they are harmful. Dunno if these oddballs insist on seeing a study saying food is harmful, as its banned in many places.

Snickers Man

mikemac1 wrote: »

The complaints didn't end though as I had people complaing to me about smokers in the beer garden. What do you expect me to do?

That was on Joe Duufy two weeks ago and there are proposals to ban it from beer gardens

We wouldn't have beer gardens if it wasn't for the smoking ban. You could count the number of pubs in Dublin with the facilities to drink outside before then on the fingers of one hand.

Why didn't the publicans introduce such areas years ago if everyone agrees, and many do, that there is nothing nicer on a sunny day than sitting out sipping a cool pint?

They had to be FORCED to bring them in and now that they're here people are campaigning to have their raison d'etre removed. Crazy.

Let smokers enjoy their fags in the open FFS.

Decuc500

I live near enough to a pub but thankfully not right opposite it. All those people standing outside, smoking, drinking, shouting drunkenly all night.

The unfortunate side of the smoking ban that only people who live near pubs get to experience.

I bet the minister who brought in the ban lives nowhere near a pub...