Holding my breath for 40 days

[radegund]

Irish Times breaking news: smoking ban will come into effect on Monday 29 March.

WOOHOO!!!

I'm fiercely happy about this, both for selfish reasons (I can go to pubs again! I can take a tea-break on the same floor as my office rather than having to go down four flights of stairs to the basement!) and for the obvious unselfish reasons (the ban will make a rake of low-status jobs healthier for those who do them; yes, I know most bar staff smoke - that's not the point).

Thank you, Mícheál Martin.

ETA: The whinging of the vintners cuts very little ice with me. They say the ban is "unworkable". It's not. Publicans deal with recalcitrant customers all the time: they know how it's done.

(God. I'm pretty fanatical about this, aren't I?)

Comments

[ailbhe]

Wow. I'm impressed.

Re:

[radegund.livejournal.com]

Yes, and only 88 days late!

[cangetmad.livejournal.com]

Fab! Also, it's really good when Ireland does stuff like this, because the Scottish Executive tend to get competetive, and that can only be good for the smell of my clothes. And my lungs, too, obviously.

Re:

[radegund.livejournal.com]

Do we do it often? It's usually been my impression that we need to be bludgeoned into doing anything even vaguely progressive by the EU.

I suppose there was the plastic bag levy. Hmmm.

[ainetl.livejournal.com]

oh that is good news. heh reason for my having to visit ireland again soon. i've got to admit that last summer the second-hand smoke factor bothered me a bit. where exactly is the ban? office spaces, restaurants?

Re:

[radegund.livejournal.com]

It's workplaces, and the main reason it's been so controversial is that this includes pubs. The vintners and publicans have been fighting tooth and nail to get pubs onto the list of exempted places (which include prison cells and psychiatric wards), but to his credit, the minister has stood up to them.

See this article (http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0218/smoking.html) for a quick summary.

Re:

[ainetl.livejournal.com]

nice! i wish we'd have the same sort of sweeping law here instead most of the laws regarding smoking are made on a city or state basis so you never know. looks like your law is much like california which i wish we had here in arizona.

will the pub owners be able to have an outside bar window? i've seen it in california and it's pretty nifty, there is bar next to the window with a big lid that lifts out so people can basically stand or sit near/on the sidewalk and drink and smoke. seems to work out pretty well, and the since the lid lifts out it provides some protection in case of rain.

Re:

[radegund.livejournal.com]

The outside bar window seems like a good compromise for California, but it wouldn't work in the Irish climate! People do drink outside pubs in the summer when it's warm, but warmth is by no means guaranteed.

[glitzfrau.livejournal.com]

Oh wow! Arise, quality of life, and immeasurably so! Huzzah!

[yiskah.livejournal.com]

Hurrah! That is excellent news, and yet another reason for me to move to Ireland.