An Irish bar with no smoke?
It will be reality from today.
The Irish government is striking hard at the nation's widespread tobacco habit with a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants and at the workplace. A US$3,640 fine if you're caught.
Isn't there a revolt?
Apparently not. Ireland is imposing the most remorseless legislation against tobacco smoking yet seen in the EU and the Irish people appear to be accepting it with great stoicism.
Health Minister Michael Martin was determinedly upbeat: "This important tobacco-free initiative has the support of the majority of people in Ireland, smokers and non-smokers alike," he said.
"I acknowledge that adapting to the new measure will require some adjustment and will not be entirely problem-free. However, I am confident that people will adjust.
"Most people are law-abiding and responsible, and I am confident that the vast majority of employers, employees and the public will respect the new measure."
And indeed the majority appeared quite submissive.
A straw poll among the drinkers of Dublin indicated at least an air of resignation in the face of the inevitable. For the time being anyway.
Andrew, a regular at Searson, one of the bars of Dublin's fashionable nightlife area, took it in his stride: "I had decided to quit anyway."
Most smokers appeared willing to put up with the future prospect of having to step outside their pub for a smoke.
More than 80 percent said yes to the ban in a November opinion poll, including 61 percent of Ireland's many smokers.
But behind the apparent complaisance lurks the hidden belief that the ban won't work.
Incorrigibles confidently predict the lawgivers will not be able to worm their way into every nook and cranny of every village pub of the emerald isle, and that the ancient combination of Guinness and tobacco will be safely preserved.
"There are too many loopholes in the law," said Barry, a young barman in Dublin's Searson bar.
For example, how was the management going to force a customer to throw away a lit cigarette?
Another barman at Donoghue's, one of the great venues for local music, had an idea: "I'll ask my friend," he said grinning, discreetly producing a baseball bat from under the bar.
Landlords have not always been so ready to enforce a law they started off by criticizing heavily.
Fearing a drop in trade, they have several times previously threatened to go to the courts to challenge the legislation.
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
Former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said if US President Joe Biden had ended his re-election bid sooner, the Democratic Party could have held a competitive nominating process to choose his replacement. “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi said in an interview on Thursday published by the New York Times the next day. “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary,” she said. Pelosi said she thought the Democratic candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris, “would have done
Farmer Liu Bingyong used to make a tidy profit selling milk but is now leaking cash — hit by a dairy sector crisis that embodies several of China’s economic woes. Milk is not a traditional mainstay of Chinese diets, but the Chinese government has long pushed people to drink more, citing its health benefits. The country has expanded its dairy production capacity and imported vast numbers of cattle in recent years as Beijing pursues food self-sufficiency. However, chronically low consumption has left the market sloshing with unwanted milk — driving down prices and pushing farmers to the brink — while
RSS