Smoking ban - Public quick to welcome visionary law

WITH the eyes of the world on the introduction of Ireland’s unique ban on smoking in the workplace, it is opportune to underline the extent to which this initiative has caught the public imagination.

It was entirely predictable that a war of words would rage between health specialists and publicans on opposite sides of the argument. Depending on one’s standpoint, the ban is variously seen as visionary and pioneering or unworkable and confusing.

But few could anticipate how this controversial and far-reaching measure would be copper-fastened in the public mind as a positive and long overdue initiative.