Pub in Galway allowing customers to smoke!!!

Sleepy · 07-07-2004 09:59AM

Pub drink sales are way down. Off licence sales are way up. Hmm, I wonder what's causing this. Maybe it's that unless your name is Tarquin, you pronounce Dart as DORT and you either made silly money during the boom or have a rich Daddy you can't afford to drink in a pub regularly. I think I've been to the pub twice in the last month or so. It's just too damn expensive to drink in them when you can have the same (or better alcohol at home) for a quarter of the price.

dudara · 07-07-2004 10:00AM

Fair Fu*cks to him I say, it's good to see someone taking a stand against one of the most draconian pieces of legislation passed in recent years.

Ah, welcome to the land of the ignorant..

wait until he starts getting fined, and the customers caught smoking get fined as well. Remember that it's just not the publican that can get fined. It will be interesting to see how many customers will go there to smoke if they're going to get fined.

Like a previous poster said, it's all to do with the price of drink. Do the vinters ever consider that for a second?

BUMP! · 07-07-2004 10:05AM

...I hope he gets closed down...

Why? If you dont like it dont go there. If he was telling the truth, he was slowly going out of business anyway - at least this way he gets good publicity which never does any harm even if he has to concede.
Anyone who complains about this are those righteous little a$$holes who like nothing better than to tell everyone else exactly how to live their lives.

briano · 07-07-2004 10:18AM

Its not all about prices though keeping customers out of bars either:

the bar I work in charges E3 for a guinness and E3.5 for a beer (premiums like warstiner are a massive E3.80) all week and for most of the weekend, but people still go to the pub around the corner, which is renound for ****ty service and really really expensive drink. Obviously I don't want to be too specific, but its name starts with "T" and ends with "urk's Head".

The Bar I'm in isn't that badly decorated, plays good music and has lots of seating but customers can't be bothered to walk the extra hundred meters and stay drinking in more expensive bars.

Now, I'm not trying to get everyone to drink in my work, but as long as people still go to pubs that charge extortionate prices, the publicans will keep on charging us through the nose. Its just good business sense for them: if a bar can make 3 euro off one pint of beer at 5 euro a pop, or sell twice as much beer but only make 1.50 a pint they will go for the 5 euro pint every time - less pints to be served == less staff to pay == less hassle for the publicans.

<cough>bastards</cough>

egan007 · 07-07-2004 10:23AM

The Smkoing Ban is an easy target to blame

Screw you publicans - those figures about drink consumption being down were from 2003

the extraordinary price of drink is to blame- from talking to people most people prefer the non smoking pub.

It does not take a genius to see that if you take down the prices lower then anyone else you will fill the place ....greed greed greed

tinofapples · 07-07-2004 10:28AM

Yeah, but he also owns Fox's, Morgans, The River Inn and a few others I can't remember off the top of me head.

He's also bought Cooke's Thatch in Shantalla/Newcastle. He had that Bogard's place in Salthill too. The guy has creamed it over the last ten years in Galway. Fibbers was an okay spot when it opened as Fibbers first but has steadily gone down hill , the majority of Galway now consider it to be a sh1thole.

I agree with anyone who says that the construction/destruction works around Eyre Square are affecting the pub more so than the smoking ban but I also agree with anyone who says that it's a cheap publicity stunt

uberwolf · 07-07-2004 10:30AM

Originally posted by briano

The Bar I'm in isn't that badly decorated, plays good music and has lots of seating but customers can't be bothered to walk the extra hundred meters and stay drinking in more expensive bars.

whats the name of this fine sounding establishment?

BigEejit · 07-07-2004 10:32AM

Unfortunately Briano ...when a bar owner see's that his bar becoming more popular the first thing to happen is the price of drink goes up .....

briano · 07-07-2004 10:35AM

Ummm, I don't want to sound like I'm advertising it, But, then again, meh:

Karma, on fishamble st. Used to be handels.

We don't allow smoking though.:)

Sleepy · 07-07-2004 10:39AM

Originally posted by briano
Its not all about prices though keeping customers out of bars either:

the bar I work in charges E3 for a guinness and E3.5 for a beer (premiums like warstiner are a massive E3.80) all week and for most of the weekend, but people still go to the pub around the corner, which is renound for ****ty service and really really expensive drink. Obviously I don't want to be too specific, but its name starts with "T" and ends with "urk's Head".

The Bar I'm in isn't that badly decorated, plays good music and has lots of seating but customers can't be bothered to walk the extra hundred meters and stay drinking in more expensive bars.

Now, I'm not trying to get everyone to drink in my work, but as long as people still go to pubs that charge extortionate prices, the publicans will keep on charging us through the nose. Its just good business sense for them: if a bar can make 3 euro off one pint of beer at 5 euro a pop, or sell twice as much beer but only make 1.50 a pint they will go for the 5 euro pint every time - less pints to be served == less staff to pay == less hassle for the publicans.

<cough>bastards</cough>

€3 a Guiness? Where is this establishment?

Frank Grimes · 07-07-2004 10:43AM

Originally posted by uberwolf
whats the name of this fine sounding establishment?

Yeah, I'd like to know too. €3 a pint sounds pretty good for that part of the city.
edit: Just saw briano's post. Can't delete this one for some reason.

Ronan|Raven · 07-07-2004 10:50AM

Ah fibber's a truely god awful pub imho. Used to aviod it most of the time when I were a student up there. Still do whenever im in the city. One other thing is the major redevelopment of Eyre Square cant be helping his business either. Hope they have improved the quality of the overpriced pisswater they used to sell in there

Fudger · 07-07-2004 11:07AM

Why? If you dont like it dont go there. If he was telling the truth, he was slowly going out of business anyway - at least this way he gets good publicity which never does any harm even if he has to concede. Anyone who complains about this are those righteous little a$$holes who like nothing better than to tell everyone else exactly how to live their lives.

Ah the stupidity of some views...keeps me going through the day !

Batbat · 07-07-2004 11:19AM

if people want to smoke in that pub and the employees dont mind its none of your or the governments fking business. Dont go into the place if you dont like smoke

All this talk of the Law, its not made by god its mans law and it can be unfair and mistaken, this is the same laws that put people behind bars for not paying the tv fee and let rich cocksuckers waste milions on tribunals. fuuck the law and this nanny state government.

Get your head out of the sand and think!

Frank Grimes · 07-07-2004 11:24AM

Originally posted by Batbat
Get your head out of the sand and think!

So people should be allowed pick and choose what laws they will obey?

dudara · 07-07-2004 11:25AM

Completely disagree with you there bat

this is the right law. And this publican is an ignorant f**ker for doing what he's doing.

Sleipnir · 07-07-2004 11:40AM

Well if the VFI aren't backing him, he screwed.

The Vintners Federation of Ireland has refused to support a Galway publican who is defying the Government's workplace smoking ban. Ciaran Levanzin, the owner of Fibber Magee's on Eyre Square, has decided to allow smoking in a designated section of his bar because of a 50% drop in business since the introduction of the ban on March 29th. Asked about the matter today, the VFI said it understood Mr Levanzin's frustrations, but could not condone anyone breaking the law.

fuuck the law and this nanny state government.

Yeah, power to the people etc etc :rolleyes:

Batbat · 07-07-2004 11:55AM

yes people should pick and choose what laws they should adhere to, we do it all the time, for example you go outside with a beer, for a small time, drinking on the streets is against the law, but it is ignored mostly because there is fair application of the law.

blanket bans like there are not good law because they are black and while, there should be reasonable exception to the rule to accommodate the significant minority who want to DOT (damage over time ) themselves freely (as long as no one else gets hurt)

If there is a pub where people smoke and only frequented by people who smoke and with smoking employees who agree , this is also fair application of the law, of a fair law, not this stupid law.

look if i want to sit in a field and cover myself with ice-cream and i probably almost freeze to death then its none of your goddam business, as long as you don’t get hurt.

its simply not the business of the government to control peoples behaviour to this extent.

Look Nazi Germany passed a law prohibiting Jews from land ownership in Germany, this was law but it was the responsibility of all fair-minded citizens not to follow this law or any other unjust law, this is an extreme example but it illustrates a point.

Finally I might add that Im a smoker and I find it generally better in a pub now without being choked by smoke.

uberwolf · 07-07-2004 12:01PM

Originally posted by Batbat

If there is a pub where people smoke and only frequented by people who smoke and with smoking employees who agree , this is also fair application of the law, of a fair law, not this stupid law.

this debate has been had before. The law was brought in to protect employees. If a potential employee was asked did he mind working in a smoky atmosphere in an interview and he said yes he wouldn't get the job. Therefore people who wished to protect their health would be economically discrimanted against with no recourse, which is why a blanket ban was enacted.

Comparing this to Nazi germany show a gross misunderstanding of both Nazi germany and the smoking ban.

But you are right, pubs are better since it was introduced. Next step - price control.

dudara · 07-07-2004 12:05PM

I might cause a lot of replies with this but here goes

sometimes the general public need laws to be enforced for them, whether they agree with them or not, because the general public is fairly stupid en masse, just as the recent referendum showed, or so I believe. Sometimes laws need to be introduced to protect people from themselves.

(Let me qualify this by just saying that I do think citizenship laws need to be looked at, just that this referendum was swallowed hook line and sinker by the general public)

Stephen · 07-07-2004 12:06PM

/invoke godwin's law

Frank Grimes · 07-07-2004 12:08PM

Originally posted by dudara
Sometimes laws need to be introduced to protect people from themselves.

Spot on. I think someone here used the analogy of the enforcement of wearing seat belts before, people might have hated it at first but after awhile it just makes sense.

BUMP! · 07-07-2004 12:14PM

Posted by fudger... Ah the stupidity of some views...keeps me going through the day !

Replies like this just annoy people... Whats the stupid part? That it doesn't sit well with your ideas??? If you dont have a proper reply the dont waste peoples time by posting rubbish!!!

And to quantify the argument (just in case you care):
- If I want to kill myself or risk injury, whether it be through sport, driving, walking or smoking then thats my business as long as I'm not causing risk to others.
- If there is a specific room for smokers then they are not causing damage to non-smokers.
- A high percentage of barmen/women smoke so if they are willing to work in a smokey environment then a little 2nd hand smoke wont do too much extra damage so maybe they shouildwork out a deal or something.
- If I needed a job then I'd rather work in a smokey pub than rot on a dole que.

- I dont even smoke - I'm just standing up for the rights of people to enjoy themselves in whatever manner and not be told what to do by busybodies like yourself...

Batbat · 07-07-2004 12:14PM

look your right in a way, and it boils down to this, we are people not cattle or cats or dogs, and we can make informed decisions, and if I decide i dont want the governments protection then its none or your business or the governments.

If i want to get payed more or whatever to work in a smoke filled environment thats my decision

It is not the governments role to protect me in this way, the idea that they could lock me up, to protect myself and then I can smoke freely in jail seems insane.

Ill say it again smoke freely in jail, so i have more freedom in jail in this case.

Its a slippery slope my friends, you are already seeing the results, now the nazi nanny government are talking about making it illegal to slap your child, not beat mind you (which is obviously wrong) but a slap

po0k · 07-07-2004 12:18PM

It's a kip.
Shouldn't be closed down, if it is all the knacks and scumbags will spill out into the normal pubs and will make life harder for the rest of us.

Frank Grimes · 07-07-2004 12:18PM

Originally posted by BUMP!
- I dont even smoke - I'm just standing up for the rights of people to enjoy themselves in whatever manner and not be told what to do by busybodies like yourself...

Why don't we just legalise everything then and let people do whatever they want?
Smoking isn't a right, people choose to do it. They've no right inflicting it on other people.
And, realistically, you can't classify pubs as smoking or non-smoking (this arguement came up in the lead up to the ban), it would leave things too open for discrimination accusations etc. etc.

uberwolf · 07-07-2004 12:19PM

Originally posted by BUMP!

- If I needed a job then I'd rather work in a smokey pub than rot on a dole que.

the ban means you dont have to make that decision now. The job is available as it always was, but now no carcinogens. Someone shouldn't have to die ten years earlier just to be able to eat.

Sherlock · 07-07-2004 12:21PM

"Ill say it again smoke freely in jail, so i have more freedom in jail in this case. "

Smoking hasn't been banned just that you can't smoke where it affects other people.You can smoke as much as you want in your own home (which a jail cell is for the duration of your sentence).

sliabh · 07-07-2004 12:24PM

Originally posted by Batbat

If i want to get payed more or whatever to work in a smoke filled environment thats my decision

Actually it isn't.

To change the example bit. Suppose your job was removing asbestos from buildings and you were offered more money to do it without protective equipment. Legally you cannot sign your rights away so even if you agreed to this your employer is still responsible for protecting your health.

A bar worker in a smokey environment could still sue when they develop lung cancer even if they had "agreed" to work in that environment.

BUMP! · 07-07-2004 12:24PM

Why not class as smoke/non-smoke?

Different classes of licences - one with a tax break on pints to allow it to compete with the smoking one while the smoking one would have to have minimum standards of airconditioning to ensure safety of employees. What is in that that couldn't be enforced?

And the point about the jub uberwolf was that the lad in Galway said that he had to leave go of 30% of his workforce and I have seen a similar decline in the amount of staff on duty in the local pubs at home... Now we have a perfectly safe workplace but no work.

Pub in Galway allowing customers to smoke!!!

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