Kerry publicans agree to snub smoking ban

KERRY publicans have confirmed that they will not enforce the smoking ban due to come into effect on March 29 and may yet decide to challenge it in the courts.

Publicans elsewhere in the country, who say they are frustrated and angry at the lack of information about the implementation of the ban, will make their decision after they have seen the guidelines.

Up to 200 Kerry members of the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) met in Tralee on Thursday night and the decision was virtually unanimous, with only one person speaking in favour of implementing the ban, said their chairman, John O'Sullivan.

"The decision was to retain our opposition to the ban in its present form at this point in time and to await directives due from the Department of Health, on March 18," Mr O'Sullivan said. "The directives will be carefully scrutinised and every avenue, including action in the courts, will then be considered," he added.

Health Minister Micheál Martin has already rejected a compromise proposal from publicans that they be allowed have a smoking room in their premises.

However, Mr O'Sullivan, of the Munster Bar, Ballymullen, Tralee, called on the minister to consider a waiver scheme such as that in New York state.

Under the scheme, if a publican can prove a loss of business of 20% or more because of the smoking ban, he can be compensated.

"What happened in New York is that one publican, in Cicero, who successfully proved that the smoking ban had a negative impact on his trade, was allowed convert a room to a smoking area," Mr O'Sullivan stated.

"Minister Martin could now offer some crumb of comfort to the hard-pressed pub trade here by adopting the New York system. We can't afford to lose our smoking, or non-smoking, customers," he said.

"If what the minister has already claimed is true that trade will improve as a result of the ban he has nothing to fear by introducing such a system here."

Publicans in Cork are meeting for their AGM on Wednesday afternoon and say the smoking ban issue is definitely going to raise its head at that meeting.

Regional spokesman Con Dennehy said the minister needs to sit down with publicans and explain who will enforce what and how.

"We were listening to an environmental health officer on Morning Ireland the other morning telling David Hanley that he won't be coming up to people who are smoking, that he will be putting the onus on the publican to do it. A lot of explanation is needed," Mr Dennehy said.

Vintners in Waterford meet on Monday night to discuss the ban.

Publicans are furious, according to local VFI leader, Michael Fitzgerald, of the Munster Bar.

"Our members are very frustrated. They have very little information about how they are expected to implement the ban. We are still awaiting the guidelines. Its going to be a hot and heavy meeting on Monday night. We're not making any recommendation to our members it will be an open session."

In nearby Kilkenny, publicans are not organising themselves and do not plan to meet about the ban. City publican, John Clere, said members are resigned to the ban coming in. "Most people just accept the ban now as a fact of life," he said.

In Limerick, VFI boss, Dave Hickey, said they too are awaiting the rules and regulations in mid-March. "We will be having our AGM on March 1 and we will know where we stand on the matter in or around then. But we're very much in the dark."