Smoking ban to be lifted in Killarney in June?

Hmmm. I hadn't seen anyone pick up on this in any threads so far but this seems a little bizarre, no? So if your a big name who isn't even a citizen of this country you can get the ban lifted while the rest of us smokers are consigned to standing outside pubs like lepers? Money talks.... If the ban is lifted for this, I say the whole concept of the ban is a joke.

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Killarney to be let off smoking ban in June

MINISTER for Arts, Tourism and Sport John O’Donoghue has asked the Minister for Health Michael Martin to suspend the smoking ban in Killarney for the duration of SummerFest in late June The Kerryman has learnt. Organisers of the festival confirmed earlier this week that SummerFest headliner Bryan Adams, a sixty a day smoker, is refusing to travel to Ireland if the smoking ban remains in place. The Canadian rocker, who headlines SummerFest, told The Kerryman he relies on cigarettes to ‘huskify’ his voice. Under the current terms of the smoking ban no artists would be allowed to smoke onstage or anywhere within twenty five metres of the sound stages, despite the concerts in question being held outdoors at Fitzgerald Stadium.

If Minister O’Donoghue is successful in his bid to have the ban overturned, and early indications from the Department of Health suggest he will be, it will mean a pint and a cigarette reprieve for pub patrons from June 26 to July 3 as the lifting of the ban will apply to the townland of Killarney.

However Kris Kristofferson, who plays Killarney on Sunday June 26 told The Kerryman that he welcomed the introduction of the smoking ban, adding that his manager Robert McGee had explained the background to the ban and both were in favour. As the entire country was behind the ban, Kristofferson added that was ‘good enough for me and Robert McGee.”