As any smoker knows, giving up is hard to do. Very hard. For one publican determined to run a totally smoke-free establishment, it has proved impossible. "We tried and failed. I'd be the first to admit that," said Ronnie Greaney, owner of An Tobar (the Well) in Galway city yesterday.
"When we started our campaign on Ash Wednesday, I had intended the pub to be non-smoking for a couple of nights weekly, but there was such a level of interest that we decided to make it totally smokefree."
Now the cigarette machine which was discreetly covered during the non-smoking era is to be restocked and many of the pub's customers who abandoned the pub and drank elsewhere during the smoking ban have returned.
Mr Greaney reckons Galway just wasn't ready for such a revolution. While a lot of people supported the idea, they voted with their feet, he says ruefully.
An Tobar was attracting a mix of tourists and locals, he adds, but there just weren't enough of them. Another factor was non-smokers generally drink less than smokers.
A senior environmental health officer with the Western Health Board, Mr Paul Hickey, said he is disappointed. Seventy per cent of Irish people are non-smokers, he says, and there is a demand for a smoke-free pub. The health board had fully supported Mr Greaney's venture. He said: "Until recently, smoking was the norm in society, but attitudes are changing and it's becoming less acceptable. However, when people are out for the night, non-smokers tend to facilitate the smoking minority when choosing a pub."
The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, and the Vintners' Federation of Ireland, recently discussed the prospect of introducing legislation obliging pubs to provide non-smoking areas, according to Mr Hickey.