Smoking ban calls for a compromise

I WELCOME the curtailment of smoking in pubs. It is detrimental to the health of both the smoker and the non-smoker alike and my own health has improved dramatically since I gave up the pipe years ago.

But, it seems fairly drastic to place a total ban on smoking in pubs. It should be both practical and possible to go for a compromise which is both reasonable and logical.

Create both smoking and non-smoking areas and install as the licensed vintners' own representative body suggested some time ago an air conditioning system capable of changing the air 12 times per hour. It is not too difficult, surely?

But politics is all about compromise and I cannot but wonder if the Minister's mind works along the lines of "Ask for 100% settle for what you can get."

We shall wait and see.

Dermot Harte,

Buttevant,

Co Cork.