Smokers take to the streets as Martin wins clash of the ash

MARCH 29, 2004, was, by any measure, a momentous day for Irish society, when the country’s most radical social experiment forced hundreds of thousands of people to take to the street.

But they gathered in the open not to protest or to march on Leinster House but to meekly accept with surprisingly good humour in most cases the tough medicine meted out to them by Health Minister Micheál Martin.

And in doing so, we witnessed the landscape of Ireland changing forever within the space of 24 hours.

Walking through Dublin was a strange experience yesterday. The streets bustled like the overcrowded cities of India with people standing in smoky huddles that grew larger as the evening wore on. What they were doing (smoking) was what they were talking about.

For once, descriptions of the capital as the Big Smoke achieved a literal accuracy.

The consensus was the first 24 hours passed off successfully, though the resolve wavered a bit as the night wore on and pubs began to fill up.

There was the carping you would expect from first-day stuff. Pubs reported drops in business. Vintners said a nasty shock lay waiting in the long grass for the Government come the next election. There were a couple of isolated reports of rebellions in smaller country pubs. Militant smokers grumbled about the 'nanny state'.

But, anecdotally at least, the widespread public backing predicted by Health Minister Micheál Martin materialised. Even hardened smokers were largely positive, perhaps temporarily beguiled by the novelty aspect of it. How long that will last is anyone's guess.

The ban also attracted enormous interest from the world's media, with dozens of cameras crews and journalists arriving into Ireland yesterday.

The minister himself had all the appearance of a guy who had been nervously awaiting his Junior Cert results and had just learned that he had got eight straight A's.

He told the Irish Examiner that it wasn't always so. During a critical period last autumn his initiative assumed a 'make-or-break' status that could have had serious political implications.

Mr Martin said Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's support had been crucial.

He helped steady the nerves of Cabinet colleagues and told publicans that the ban would not cause the world to end.

Speaking of the potential impact the row over the ban could have had on his own career, Mr Martin said: "Initially I did not look at it in this light but as something that was happening purely in the health arena. Then political commentators became more interested in a political context and began to look at what impact it would have on political careers."

He said the turning point came with his successive appearances on The Late Late Show and the Fianna Fáil Árd Fheis in October. He had not anticipated the huge level of support before his appearances. They were "defining moments", when opposition to the ban wilted and he knew there was "no turning back".

Mr Martin said he was very happy with the way things had progressed on the first day.

He said he believed the ban had a "good wind behind it".