Posted on 07/21/2004 7:37:53 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan
Pub Owner First to Be Fined Over Smoking Ban
Wed Jul 21, 7:25 AM ET Add Oddly Enough - Reuters to My Yahoo!
DUBLIN (Reuters) - An Irish publican became the first bar owner in the country Tuesday to be successfully prosecuted for breaking the government's pioneering smoking ban, court officials said.
Padraig Folan, owner of the Ti Hanrai pub in the village of Lettermore in the far west of Ireland, was fined 1,200 euros ($1,500) and ordered to pay 500 euros in costs for failing to enforce the ban.
Ireland introduced the law in March, becoming the first country in the world to ban smoking in all pubs, bars, restaurants and workplaces nationwide.
The court heard how an environmental officer had visited the pub in April and issued a warning to Folan after finding cigarette butts on the floor. The officer reported Folan after returning a month later to find customers smoking at the bar.
Folan, whose pub is on a tiny island just off the Irish mainland in County Galway, said he had had great difficulty enforcing the ban.
The government says there has been a compliance rate of 97 percent but many pub owners, particularly in rural areas, have complained of a drastic decline in business.
Earlier this month, a pub owner in Galway staged a minor revolt against the ban, openly allowing customers to smoke in his bar, but he backed down when threatened with court action.
Ping
I'm sure Paddy and all his customers already have mamas and are probably not in the market for another one.
Belfast is looking better and better to me.
Oh good grief.........
I have updated my FMCDH sign-off with the addition of (BITS).....Blood In The Streets, which I foresee coming soon, due to the enormous increase of the communist progressive movement being shoved down the throat of this failing REPUBLIC through the Judicial tyranny of fiat law, and the passing of unconstitutional laws by the Legislative and Executive branches of our government.
FMCDH(BITS)
I hear you.
Thank you for the explanation of BITS..........
FMCDH(BITS)
On the up side, there are a number of publicans now planning to challenge the ban in the High Court - claiming it is inequitable and unconstitutional.
Good for them....I wish them the best of all luck.
Don't you just love it when the legislators make the civilians into enforcement agents against their will. And then fine them when they don't do the job the legislators assigned them against their will.
While I don't like yapping about the internal affairs of another country, I'll bet 1/2 of those behind your ban were leftist "Americans" like George Soros and other "Public Health" foundations, so what's one more?
But hey, as long as they can get paid to crawl around on pub floors looking for cigarette butts, who cares?
You make a very valid point here. The nannies are so concerned about public "health" that they ban many people right out of jobs and onto the public welfare roles.........just how "healthy" is that?????
I would venture to say the 20something mother of 2 tending bar would far prefer a smokey bar where she is making a decent living to buying her groceries with food stamps.
And I know this to be true.....a friend of mine is a 25 yo mother of 2 and a bartender here in VA. She has friends in the business throughout the region....everyone of her friends that used to work in Delaware has either gotten a job in maryland or changed their line of work.
I know another bartender here that used to tend bar in Delaware in the summer.......not anymore
Like the tagline!!
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