Galway health board officials go 'clubbing' to check compliance

Galway-based health board officials are gearing up to go "clubbing" this week as part of their drive to implement the smoking ban.

Environmental health officers (EHOs) employed by the Western Health Board (WHB) have promised to make a 'blitz' on pubs, nightclubs and hotels in the city over the next few days to ensure that there is compliance with the legislation. Early indications suggest compliance is very good but the EHOs intend to assess the overall situation as part of their strategy.

This 'assessment' will include visiting nightclubs into the early hours to monitor behaviour of staff, management and clientele. The WHB and the Office of Tobacco Control have issued licensed premises with signage on the new legislation, and most are displayed prominently.

The ban has been given a mixed reception in Galway city, where the Vintners' Federation of Ireland (VFI) had some of its strongest opponents. Martin Lally, proprietor of Taaffe's bar in Shop Street, decided to auction off his ashtrays on March 29th for a cancer charity. One call from London was made by a publican who wanted to display "the last ash trays ever used in Ireland".

Galway's Charlie Byrne's Bookshop in Middle Street also took a light-hearted approach. The bookshop staff had mounted a special window display of titles with one common denominator - a smoker or smokers on the front cover.

Kerry explorer Tom Crean was puffing his pipe on the cover of An Unsung Hero by Michael Smith, while Martin Amis's Experience had a child smoker, and actor Michael Caine was taking a drag on On Set, a photographic collection by Greg Williams.

Offshore islands may also be targeted as part of the health board strategy, but rural publicans believe the legislation could put them out of business. "You are talking about asking senior citizens - who come in here for daily social contact - to stand outside and have a smoke," one Inishbofin resident noted. That may be alright for the next few months when there is good weather, but what happens when the winter sets in? Are we asking these people, many of who are already isolated, to stay at home?"

Christy Ruane, Vintners Federation of Ireland Galway branch spokesman, is still despondent about the ban, which he intends to implement. His pub and shop in Castleblakeney, east Galway, is also his home. "I am not a smoker, but my wife is. Will her workplace - the kitchen - now be covered also by this?

"I am 44 years in the pub business, 30 years here and this is my livelihood. I feel that a lot of rural pubs will be pushed to the edge by this legislation.

"If there are signs of hardship, our organisation is going to go back to the Minister for Health and look for waivers," he adds.

In a separate development, a new study of smoking among 12-14 year olds in the west has revealed almost 40 per cent of those who smoke have been buying cigarettes themselves. It is against the law to sell cigarettes to anyone under 18 years.

A further 36 per cent of the young smokers have been getting an older person to buy them cigarettes, while 23 per cent have had their cigarettes supplied by a family member. A total of 35 per cent of the young smokers said their parents were aware that they were smoking.

The survey by the WHB was carried out among more than 400 second-level students in schools in Co Roscommon. Almost three times as many boys (21 per cent) as girls (7.5 per cent) were smokers. The most popular reason for taking up smoking was 'peer pressure' and 'to be cool'. More than 80 per cent of those who had been smoking for more than a year admitted they were addicted to cigarettes.