First Night Out With The Smoking Ban!!

[Tom RED]

Just back from Ice Queen which was fabulous. It was mad people had to go to the bathroom to smoke on the sly as you couldnt leave the club. It was like school again and people were keeping sketch for the bouncers. At one stage we had to resort to going to the ladies to smoke.... it always worked in school as the principal wouldn't come in. Not that I'm a heavy smoker but just when Im drinking.

You should have the option to be able to smoke outside a nightclub as well as a pub but with a night club you cant come and go as you please.

[Bootyzilla]

They'll have to start stamping hands, eventually, I think, so people can go out and back in without fearing over-sensitive bouncers.

[jc]

It wasnt enforced in the Club anyway at all last night.

[Andor]

gay peeps going to the public toilets for a fag.
nothing new there.

wacka wacka!

[NuMarvel]

quote jc Posted - 29/03/2004 153104
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It wasnt enforced in the Club anyway at all last night.



Hopefully that will change by next weekend. If I saw that they weren't enforcing the smoking ban I would ask them to or I would leave and ask for my money back. Course my friends would be sad to see me leave, what with being the designated driver and all.....


quote Bootyzilla Posted - 29/03/2004 105841
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They'll have to start stamping hands, eventually, I think, so people can go out and back in without fearing over-sensitive bouncers.


Or they could try stop smoking...

Okay, okay, only messing! People do of course to have the right to smoke if it doesn't interfere with other people, so I think nightclubs will need to wise up and do something about this. Stamp probably would be the easiest thing to do. I can't see nightclubs building special outside shelters (not enough room for a start!) and things like tickets would only get lost, etc.

Of course, if they decide not to, they may find they're customer base reduced by the approximate 20% that do smoke (currently) and those who are going out with them.

Please put a mark on the wall - I am supporting the rights of smokers??! My mother would do cartwheels at the news.

[chatelaine]

"Course my friends would be sad to see me leave, what with being the designated driver and all....."

That's the price of expressing your views...and if your friends aren't in a position to accept your viewpoints maybe they aren't the great friends you think. Ultimately, it's the law...

[LeBaron]

Originally posted by NuMarvel

Of course, if they decide not to, they may find they're customer base reduced by the approximate 20% that do smoke (currently) and those who are going out with them.



And Nu... anyone in business will testify to the fact that anything more than a sudden drop of 10% in revenue wipes out the profit and destroys the business

[bo_selecta]

article in todays New York Times

Bars and Restaurants Thrive Amid Smoking Ban, Study Says

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/29/nyregion/29smoke.html?ex=1081227600&en=93ad1ab0ae0f3acf&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

and this article from the Guardian has the word "Bollocks" in it

Ireland's Workplace Smoking Ban Starts

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3917131,00.html

[thalia]

Whats going to mask the smell of disinfectant in the club now ?

[Slayer]

Ah don't worry, thalia, there's still the smell of sweat and desparation.

I'm so glad this ban is in. Finally I can go clubbing without spending a week at home sick with swollen glands and blocked sinii because of the smoke.

[LeBaron]

Went for a first "non-smoking" pint in Loafers last nite.

Hoggy & Eileen have done an excellent job in kitting out the beer garden to facilitate us outcasts who still want a puff.
Nice decking, comfortable seating and storm heaters make it very welcoming place. And I am delighted to say its paying off for them as the beer garden was full, there were more ppl in the beer garden than you would get in the whole bar on a normal Monday...

Good Stuff guys

[jc]

fair play to them. shows the actually are taking the place and their customers seriously

[LeBaron]

It was WONDERFULL to hear on the RTE news tonight the first reported breaking of the smoking ban in a pub.

It was by a TD, in the bar of Dail Eireann

Fair play to ye boys, make the best of privilage from prosecution ! !

[Bootyzilla]

quoteOriginally posted by LeBaron
It was by a TD, in the bar of Dail Eireann

I couldn't be fucking happier.

Well, unless you can tell me Martin;s been shot dead. Preferably on the Falls Road, just for the added Anne Doyle factor.

Annihoo, it'd be interesting to see how many people the ban will stop smoking.

Not me, that's for damn sure, but still...

Seemingly Martin's next big bugbear is Drink. It was in the papers a few days ago. Sigh. I might just emigrate again if this keeps up.

[LittleTimmy]

Nice to know that John Deasy (the TD in question) was relieved off his Justice spokesman post for breaking the law then.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0401/deasy.html

Finally enda Kenny has done something worthwhile. (And its nice to note also that not only is he a lawbreaker but he is a reknowned sympathiser of the american republican cause!) 2 birds 1 stone!

[capo]

Am I the only one to think that losing your job for having a fag is, just maybe, a little harsh ??? This is such a ludicrous law.

[Bootyzilla]

No, you're right. But since setting an example at the cost of anything at all seems to be the Mode du jour then who are we to question it?

[LittleTimmy]

quoteOriginally posted by capo
Am I the only one to think that losing your job for having a fag is, just maybe, a little harsh ??? This is such a ludicrous law.


This Ludicrus law happens to be very popular with most people! And sometimes when you breka the law you do lose your job, its what happens like.
And don't worry too much about poor John Deasy, he had it coming anyway.

[capo]

Does popular now equate to right ? If 51% of the population want to barbeque the other 49% would that be right ?

I agree that Deasy is a langer bag but does this 'example' mean that it is acceptable to fire a guy for smoking and we all nod our heads sanctimoniously....... Jesus what has happened to the country I used to love ?

[benjie2004]

I think him getting fired was indeed a bit harsh. But then again, he brought it on himself, and should he have been allowed to get away with smoking, there would have been uproar from the public. It high-lights how serious this smoking ban is been taken though.

[LeBaron]

quoteOriginally posted by capo
Jesus what has happened to the country I used to love ?


What happened indeed.

The one thing that is being lost is the fairly recently gained sense of tolerance of others opinions.
At the core of this is a desire to impose the will of the majority on a minority, and some us have been around long enough to remember what that was like for the gay community.
Come on lads, would it have been too much to ask that the smokers could have been accomodated in a seperate room with a closed door.
Its pathetic to watch the old duffers standing outside Denehys on the Coal Quay in the cold.

[LittleTimmy]

quoteOriginally posted by capo
Does popular now equate to right ?


Not necessarily but it happens to be the case sometimes. Does unpopular equate to ludricous? The argument is over really and its here to stay thankfully!

[LeBaron]

We have yet to see that

[Kyle]

I have no sympathy whatsoever! For years ye had ye'r way and blew smoke into our faces, when the time for a compromise came ye didnt for a second suggest seperates rooms for ye but seperate rooms for us! Im delighted ye have to sit outside in the cold and i look forward to next winter !!!

Roll on pink lungs !!!

[LeBaron]

There lies the vitriol so typical of lack of tolerance

[capo]

Well said Baron.

Thanks Kyle. You seem like a real nice guy.

[LittleTimmy]

Its simply a public health issue. Smokers seem to think its reasonable to poison other people which is what is happening. Thankfully someone has stood up and decided this is not ok. And just cos you are a minority does not entitle you to special treatment LeBaron. This chepaens the notion of equality. Smoke if you want, but don't take me to a hoarse throat, lung diseased death wity you.

[benjie2004]

Why is everyone getting so worked up here. I do agree with what was said about the old people having to stand outside. Thats ludicrous, ridiculous and not on! These people worked all their lives, and sitting in a pub with their friends, enjoying a smoke (or the toteeen), is probably something very important to them. Its sad really.

Why could they not hvae introduced those smoking sections that are in place in most airports around the world? ok, i know a lot of planning would have to be done so it would work, but the principle is the same.

I am glad the ban came in, as it now means that its more comfortable sitting in a bar. But I do see it from the smokers perspective also. It seems unjust to have it, one day smoking permitted, the next, nothing! the change over should have been more of a gradual process.

[Kyle]

I am very tolerant - tolerance leads from equality and equality affords the right for everyone to be equal but not at the expense of others - smoking is a health risk and damages people’s health! U think i should sit and inhale ur disgusting smoke? It is the rights of people who want to be healthy over the rights of selfish people like you who insist on damaging my health and the health of others - Addicts will always find a way of justifying their addiction !

[LittleTimmy]

Simple as this, smoke if ya want to, but don't make others smoke against their will. Why is that such a big problem for smokers?

[LeBaron]

Good comments Benjie

What would be so wrong with say an upstairs room that ppl could go into and excercise thier right to poison themselves without poisioning or disturbing anyone else.

I was in Loafers last night and Hoggy tells me his takings have shot through the roof, from ppl coming to sit in the excellent heated beergarden he has installed

[Kyle]

Addiction

[Kyle]

Le Baron you only want to hear from people who back up your point of view, comprise and discussion on any issue is simply taboo (excuse the pun)

[Bootyzilla]

quoteOriginally posted by Kyle
comprise and discussion on any issue is simply taboo (excuse the pun)


Strange, Kyle, one could say the exact same about all the posts you've made on the cmoking ban.

[capo]

Kyle, your posts are becoming offensive and irritating.

[Kyle]

Thats unfair - my posts simply represent my point of view. If the discussion becomes one sided then whats the point in it ?

[benjie2004]

Thanks. It makes sense though. Anyone can see that.
Im a non-smoker and I used have severe problems anytime Id go out with asthma attacks. Particularly the next day. And now that wont happen anymore which Im glad about. But Id have no problem with people having a seperate section in a pub in which they could go to enjoy a smoke if thats what they want. As you say, an room upsatirs... a conservatory (with windows ajar) out the back, a decking area with a roof. But to force people to stand outside on the street? No! That cant be right.

There is always going to be this battle of the smoker against the non-smoker, but until this ban was even mentioned, it was never a problem. People just got on with things.

[Kyle]

quoteOriginally posted by Bootyzilla
quoteOriginally posted by Kyle
comprise and discussion on any issue is simply taboo (excuse the pun)


Strange, Kyle, one could say the exact same about all the posts you've made on the cmoking ban.


I've never had a problem with people smoking in pubs and i've always stated that but my one issue has always been health and the second i put my health before the wishes of someone else to smoke is a bad day for myself. I'm simply making my point as a matter of health, both my own and others whereas others are making theirs based on inconvience of having to simply go outside for 3 minutes to smoke - I've never asked anyone to stop nor would I.

[capo]

quoteIm delighted ye have to sit outside in the cold and i look forward to next winter !!!

quoteIt is the rights of people who want to be healthy over the rights of selfish people like you

Not very nice quotes Kyle. And it's spelt compromise.

[LittleTimmy]

Also the problem with smoking 'sections' is that people would have to work in those sections inevitably. And thats what the ban is about, avoiding situations where people's health is harmed unnecessarily.
And in response to all the accuastions of narrow mindedness at Kyle, I think there is very little narrow minded in trying to protect your health. Its humna nature, unless you are a smoker of course.....

[LeBaron]

quoteOriginally posted by Kyle
Im delighted ye have to sit outside in the cold and i look forward to next winter !!!



Hey Kyle, that was hardly a statement of compromise, just reveling in the discomfort of others.

[Kyle]

Honest question capo do you smoke ?

[LittleTimmy]

quoteOriginally posted by capo

Not very nice quotes Kyle. And it's spelt compromise.


We don't really take notice of spelling mistakes in Gay cork. (Unless we can't discuss reasonably)
Nevertheless I'd like to point you that your own posts are littered with grammer errors.
quoteNot very nice quotes Kyle. And it's spelt compromise.
Never start a sentence with 'And'. tut tut

[capo]

Kyle - Is that not blindingly obvious ?

[capo]

Touche Timmy. Point taken (I was just cranky ok?)

[Kyle]

Thanks for proving my point

[capo]

Come again !!! ????

[Kyle]

Addiction doesnt allow for compromise

[LittleTimmy]

quoteOriginally posted by capo
Touche Timmy. Point taken (I was just cranky ok?)

I get like that too sometimes Capo! Illiteracy is quite high among gc users as it happens so I think I mite start a help group!

[Kyle]

I was typing too fast lads, get over it !

[capo]

Kyle - That is simply the most unreasonable and unargueable post I have seen in a long time.

[LeBaron]

I'll attend, if I can smoke !!!!

[Kyle]

Capo - I dont think so !

[LeBaron]

Thought not, soon you will be able to tell who the non-smokers here are just by observing spelling and grammer in teh posts
[)]

[Kyle]

quoteOriginally posted by LeBaron
Thought not, soon you will be able to tell who the non-smokers here are just by observing spelling and grammer in teh posts
[)]



Another point proven !

[LittleTimmy]

quoteOriginally posted by LeBaron
I'll attend, if I can smoke !!!!

I'll make it an open air event, it'll be like our very own gay gay hedge school.

[benjie2004]

No-one woild have to work in these smoking areas. They dont at airports! It would be just a room. Nothing in there, just a few seats maybe.
I dont know. It will be interesting to see if the ban stays though. Hopefully it will work out. But if it leads to violence, then I think something will have to be done about it. The ban hasnt actually faced a weekend yet. Lets see what happens. Hopefully all will be fine.

[redbulljunkie]

I agree with Kyle. You might have to endure the inconvenience of standing outside to smoke once a week, but think of the bar staff who used have to work in a smoky environment 7 nights a week. Passive smoking has been shown to be at least as dangerous as first hand smoking (due to the toxins being recycled in the air) and ventilation does not reduce the number of harmful toxins, just the smog. Thus, if Micheal Martin hadn't introduced the smoking ban, then in 2 or 3 decades, we would have large numbers of bar staff dying of lung cancer simply because they wanted to earn a living. Is your convenience that important?

[capo]

Thats a reasoned arguement RBJ. I think we only reared up on Kyle because of the style rather than the content of his arguement.

[LeBaron]

Did I read somewhere that Mr Martins next move is to restrict drinking to 4 pints per person ?

[capo]

That was an Aprils fool on today's examiner. (Duh Baron).

[redbulljunkie]

I heard earlier in the week though that binge drinking was going to be his next jihad.

[benjie2004]

I heard that too. I dont think its an Aprils Fool Joke. Apparently, he's planning on having everyone ID'd at the door, regardless of age (as they do in the States), and everyone is given a card that will be punched at the bar when a drink is purchased. Im not sure how this will actually work though, and dont think anything about it is definate yet. The smoking ban has to be established and settled first. They already have a system like this running in other European countries, but its a way of charging people for what they consume on leaving a bar / club rather than monitoring how much they drink.

[LeBaron]

I can see us turning into a nation of bores

[redbulljunkie]

going to start a new thread on the micheal martin vs drink debate.

[capo]

Benjie, really, it was a joke.

[benjie2004]

Maybe it was just a joke or some editors idea of being sarcastic. But it does raise a good issue though. The drinking habbits of some have gotten way out of control. I feel its too late for the 20 plus age group. I could even go so far as to say its almost too late for teenagers too. Its primary schools he should target if he wants to do anything.

[Bootyzilla]

quoteOriginally posted by Kyle
Addiction doesnt allow for compromise


I think you'd be very hard-pushed to find a smoker who disagrees with the ethos behind the ban. Of course there'll be one or two ignorants who think that nonsmokers have no right to clean air (and conversely, most of the nonsmokers now hiding behind That Man are now shouting long and loud about how smokers oughtn't to have the right to smoky air) but the majority of smokers, in my experience, are more than happy to compromise.

But compromise is not what this vban has ever been about. Where was the compromise in ushering it in? Where was the compromise in the dictatorial way this ban is written? Where is the compromise in no smoking in any enclosed public space anywhere?

Compromise, Kyle? Don't make me laugh. I might blow smoke in your direction and then i would be worse than Hitler.

LeBaron, I think you're right. Anodyne Milky-White is all very well and good in practise but in reality it's a Singaporean Nightmare.

[bo_selecta]

Interesting debate on the whole smoking ban. I'm for it and I smoked up to quite recently.

As for John Deasy - he was fired from the FG front bench because he wouldn't meet with Enda Kenny to be given out to for smoking in the Dail bar...had he turned up, he probably would have gotten a slap on the wrists.

[LeBaron]

quoteOriginally posted by benjie2004
Its primary schools he should target if he wants to do anything.


Hey Banjie, They dont serve drinks, yet, in primary schools so he would not get the same vicious kick as he would in limiting consumption in Pubs.

[)]

[amnesiac]

Justice spokesperson for the main (hah!) opposition party commits a crime and boasts about it to the media.

Enda Kenny had NO alternative but to sack him.

The laws of the land are made by the people we elect to represent us in Parliament. If you don't like the laws, vote for somebody else.

Personally I think the ban on Smoking in Enlclosed workplace is a superb piece of legislation and for once I cannot but congratulate the Fianna Fáíler (and a Corkman, they'll never talk to me in Labour in Kerry South again) in question.

I'm no supporter of a nanny state. In fact I think the State has little business telling people what they can and can't do with their own bodies when it comes to a lot of drugs. But smoking is not a drug habit that directly harms not just the smoker, but anybody within quite radius in an enclosed space.

This legislation will reap benefits in the number of illnesses and deaths from smoking related diseases within years. As a smoker myself, it is the boost that I hope will finally force me to kick the habit for good.

Micheál Martin, I salute you.

[LeBaron]

Hey Amnesiac, Since you hold Malicious Martin in such high esteem why dont you start a fundraiser to help him pay for the WHOPPING legal bill he is going to face for his failed supreme court case.

I can tell you its all the outside smokers are talking about, out in the cold.

Not that I, heveans forbid, would take any pleasure out of another human beings discomfort !

[amnesiac]

A lot of smokers see this legislation as a direct attack on them by Mr. Micheál Martin, making our Minister for Health a masochist because he is a smoker himself.

[Bootyzilla]

No he isn't...

...is he?

[amnesiac]

When this legislation was first mooted, many, many moons ago, it was widely reported that Martin himself was a smoker.

[amnesiac]

I can't find any references to it online though.

[Bootyzilla]

quoteOriginally posted by amnesiac
As a smoker myself, it is the boost that I hope will finally force me to kick the habit for good.



Waiting for a law to kick you into action isn't going to work at all. Do you actually think that by not being able to smoke in pubs that you're going to finally discover the extra willpower you need to give up smoking?

[amnesiac]

Bottom line, it's not an attack on smokers, it's designed to protect people who choose not to smoke. Although I suspect if this ban is successful the numbers of people choosing to smoke and start smoking will fall.

[amnesiac]

quoteOriginally posted by Bootyzilla


Waiting for a law to kick you into action isn't going to work at all. Do you actually think that by not being able to smoke in pubs that you're going to finally discover the extra willpower you need to give up smoking?


The willpower to give up smoking comes from within. Only a smoker can decide he or she wants to give up. Working in hospitals and seeing the effect somking has on smokers and their families has greatly encouraged me to kick the habit. But I am a weak person, and any time I've given up in the past, my first cigarette has come in a bar or nightclub.

As soon as it was reported that March 29th was "D-day" I set it in my mind as the day I would finally give up smoking for good. Instead of binging on junk food and feeling sorry for myself, I made sure to go to the gym on Monday and wlak to Tesco to stock up on lots and lots of healthy food.

I've had cravings all week but everytime I do I recall a man I spoke with in the Mercy a few months ago who was choking to death after a lifetime of smoking. Tonight, when I'm shaking my ass at Fever and drinking away the fear that I'm goign to fail my exams next week, the tmeptation to smoke will be less than it would if smoking were still allowed. Not that I feel my own struggle to give up cigarettes is an argument for the smoking ban!

I don't think pub trade will be greatly affected in the medium to long term. 70% of people are non smokers and a number of them have avoided pubs in the past because of the smoky atmosphere and the stench off their clothes afterwards. Apparently Mummy Amnesiac is going for her first non GAA/Christmas/Funeral related pint in her local this weekend... silly Mummy Amnesiac, thinking the law will be enforced in Kerry South!

[redbulljunkie]

I also know plenty of people who have started smoking when they were out on the piss. When you're drunk and someone offers you a cigarette while all the time you've been inhaling secondary nicotine, it can be tempting.

[NuMarvel]

Intersting question came up at work today - Is the Deasy TD going to have the fine imposed on him? People who break the ban (and in his case it is reported that he broke it quite intentionally) are supposed to have a fine of €3000 imposed are they not?

[NuMarvel]

Wait - never mind - I've really gotta learn to surf the web more thoroughly before posting!

http//www.irishexaminer.com/breaking/2004/04/01/story140961.html

and this

http//www.irishexaminer.com/breaking/2004/04/01/story140942.html

On the positive side it's good to see another West Cork man moving on up in the world. (If Fine Gael can be considered as such)

[Rec]

Well the ban should put a stop to the "I'm just a social smoker" slippery slope.

New Plot twist for some dire Rte drama "the bow wow clinic"

Josie gets caught up in her own lies when she tells the guy she fancies that she smokes so to go outside with him while he takes fag breaks. Will she take up smoking for a booty call? Or will she instead harp on about how great Dublin is?

[Bootyzilla]

LOL

It's a sad day for RTE when the only talent they can dredge up scriptwriter-wise is resorting to disembowelling old Friends storylines for ideas.

[redbulljunkie]

I love that "I'm a social smoker" line. "I'm a social smoker, it just happens that there's people around me all the time!" [)].

[Bootyzilla]

LORD but that pisses me off too!

'I'm a social smoker' is the same as saying 'I'm too cheap/poor/young to buy my own. I will bum yours'. It's the same thing as Shaw's saying 'Almost Nationwide' in their posts. They may as well say 'Shaws - Not As Good As Dunnes'.

[capo]

Amnesiac - Doc Marten has never smoked. The other rumour of his dad dying of lung cancer is also untrue.

[amnesiac]

I know the EU Commissioner for Health a few years back was a scary Italian lady who puffed 60 odd Marlboro (red) a day!

[Rec]

Oh but can we believe you amnesiac - can we??? It's just more of your lies - secrets and lies!!!

- Rec heaves a melodramatic sigh and walks off into the sunset.

Correction "flounces" off into the sunset.

[NuMarvel]

Frst Saturday night after the smoking ban came into effect - the litmus test.

Loafers was busy (least in the main part anyway, i think there was a good crowd out in the beer garden as well) and the Other Place really picked upafter about 1.30 (the usual time). From what I saw, it doesn't seem to have had a major negative effect.

Was anyone out in any other parts of town?

[benjie2004]

I was in The Other Place Saturday too and the smoking ban seemed to work fine. People went outside when they wanted to smoke and that was that. It was nice waking up the next day and not having the stench of fags in my room.

[capo]

LOL @ benje. Please tell me that pun was intended.

[benjie2004]

[D]