The smoking ban - 10 year anniversary

Mr.McLovin · 24-03-2014 01:50PM #1

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 · 24-03-2014 01:51PM

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

Toto Wolfcastle · 24-03-2014 01:53PM

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 · 24-03-2014 01:56PM

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 · 24-03-2014 01:56PM

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 · 24-03-2014 01:58PM

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 · 24-03-2014 01:59PM

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 · 24-03-2014 01:59PM

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 · 24-03-2014 01:59PM

wow time flies..

Ruu · 24-03-2014 02:01PM

It'll kill the pub trade!

Wait..no it didn't.

Muise... · 24-03-2014 02:02PM

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 · 24-03-2014 02:02PM

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 · 24-03-2014 02:04PM

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 · 24-03-2014 02:05PM

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

everyone smoked and drank plenty

good times

mikemac1 · 24-03-2014 02:06PM

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 · 24-03-2014 02:09PM

mikemac1 wrote: »

there are proposals to ban it from beer gardens

final nail in the coffin for the pub trade

snubbleste · 24-03-2014 02:09PM

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

Wibbs · 24-03-2014 02:11PM

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 · 24-03-2014 02:12PM

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 · 24-03-2014 02:12PM

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 · 24-03-2014 02:13PM

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 · 24-03-2014 02:23PM

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 · 24-03-2014 02:23PM

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 · 24-03-2014 02:25PM

This thread makes me want a smoke

suicide_circus · 24-03-2014 02:26PM

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 · 24-03-2014 02:32PM

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... · 24-03-2014 02:36PM

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 · 24-03-2014 02:57PM

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 · 24-03-2014 03:17PM

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 · 24-03-2014 03:20PM

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

/nonsmoker

smileyj1987 · 24-03-2014 03:27PM

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 .

The smoking ban - 10 year anniversary

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