I see from your home page you're actually in Ireland. What is the DEAL with that smoking ban? It's my understanding, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it imposed by one man's fiat, not by referendum or anything? Are people actually obeying that, even out in the countryside? IRISH people, obedient to one man's directive? Hard to believe, from the Irish I've met in America. Obedience is NOT a character trait I've seen in them.
That is correct, while it wasn't nessecary for a referendum to introduce it, it was generally the case that a controversial proposal would be brought before the people - not this time; all the calls for compromise (polls supported compromise), and even a referendum were arrogantly ignored by Minister Michael Martin (now demoted, LOL!)!
BTW, any Irish roots yourself?