Govt under fire over smoking ban

The Government came under attack today after a senior minister broke ranks to criticise the country’s forthcoming ban on smoking in pubs and restaurants.

Opposition politicians urged Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to step forward and show leadership after his Environment Minister openly condemned the move.

Martin Cullen told journalists that the plan to stop people lighting up in bars from January 2004 was unworkable.

It came just a day after another member Fianna Fáil party revealed he is to table a motion of opposition to the ban, and claimed up to 50 members of the party could be opposed.

Fine Gael's Gay Mitchell said that this was a serious issue on which collective leadership was needed.

He said: “They are ministers, they are part of the Cabinet.

“Their position is that they took this decision and they are now behaving like they are independent backbench TDs distancing themselves from it.

“It’s an appalling situation.”

Labour’s Liz MacManus called for Mr Ahern to show leadership on the matter.

She said: “This is one occasion on which the Taoiseach should assert his authority as leader of the Government and state quite clearly whether or not the proposed ban has his full support and if it will proceed as planned on January 1.”

Mr Cullen, a heavy smoker, said that many people were concerned at the intrusiveness of the plan, adding that he would prefer to see special smoking rooms, proper ventilation and a gradual phasing in of the ban.

He said: “I think to blankly do it on the first of January is posing difficulties. Anybody would be a fool not to recognise that.”

The minister spoke of the recent ban on smoking in New York bars, where drinkers have resorted to leaving signs reserving their seats when going outside to smoke.

He said: “I can imagine Dublin on a Saturday or Friday night in crowded bars, people putting their signs up and going out and expecting to get their seats back when they arrive back in.”

A bouncer was shot dead in New York in April after a confrontation with a smoker, and warnings have been given that if the ban is introduced, similar violence could take place in Irish pubs.

Mr Cullen was speaking on radio after newspaper reports quoted him as criticising Ireland for following the political correctness of the United States.

He described his comments about America as “tongue in cheek“.

He said: “I have a healthy traditional dislike of over-regulation and being told what to do all the time, particularly now when it becomes part of invading into your social life.”

But Mr Cullen said he respected the Health Minister’s view and agreed that “in a sense” he was right.

Despite growing opposition to the ban in his party, he agreed that the majority of Government ministers were in favour.

He said: “If the Government decides that this is going to proceed on January 1, as agreed, well so be it, I will support that.”

He also described his own 40-a-day habit as a “pathetic addiction“.

He added: “It is pathetic but I am addicted to cigarettes. Cigarettes are my outlet.

“There are many people like me – I don’t take a drink, I enjoy my cup of coffee or go into a pub and have a Coke with friends and enjoy a cigarette. They can enjoy their few jars.”

Yesterday former junior agriculture minister Noel Davern claimed up to 50 members of the parliamentary party were opposed to an all-out ban, and said he would be tabling a motion against it when the Dáil returns from recess in October.

John McCormack, chief executive of the Irish Cancer Society, said he was disappointed with Mr Cullen’s comments.

He said the ban was necessary to protect the health of pub workers and that a separate smoking room would not solve the problem, as bar workers would still have to serve those people.

The move has been met with outrage from publicans, who claim it is unworkable - and some have said they may introduce outdoor seating areas to get around it.

Last month a group representing hotels, guesthouses, restaurants and pubs in Ireland began a campaign to overturn the ban, warning of severe consequences for the country’s economy.