EAMONN GORMLEY,
Sir, - No publican would force all their patrons to drink alcohol, so why should they have the right to force non-smokers to inhale cigarette smoke? I almost choked when I read about the president of the Vintners Federation of Ireland, Mr Joe Browne, warning that a smoking ban would turn Ireland's pubs into "antiseptic Californian-type premises where a similar ban has resulted in empty pubs lacking in atmosphere with smokers thronging footpaths outside".
The term "antiseptic" is an interesting substitute for "clean". For over a year I have lived in the Golden State, where they enforce this supposedly unenforceable ban, and I can assure Mr Browne that the pubs here are anything but empty or devoid of atmosphere. Perhaps the breathability of the said atmosphere and the visibility of people more than six feet away has something to do with it. There is only ever a small number of people happily puffing away on the footpath, and in many cases there is a beer-garden where all the smokers congregate.
It will be a sad day if I ever feel the need to come home coughing, spluttering, with my eyes watering and my clothes smelling like an ashtray just to be able to say that I had a good night out. - Yours, etc.,
EAMONN GORMLEY, Sunnyvale, California, USA.