Sir, - The vintners claim that a no-smoking policy in pubs would not work because when a pub in Galway which tried the policy lost business to other premises. But if all pubs become non-smoking, then there will be no "smoking" pubs to go to. All will be on an equal footing.
The cinema/theatre world didn't collapse when at long last smoking was banned. Neither will the pub world. If people wish to smoke, there should be smoking rooms where non-smokers need not suffer from noxious fumes.
The Government plans to sue cigarette manufacturers for the damage that cigarettes have done to people's health over the years. They plan to ban smoking in pubs, but what are they going to do about suing distillers and brewers for the very evident health damage and untold misery that alcohol has caused down the years?
I holidayed in Morocco a few years ago. Each evening I saw the local men sitting at tables in the evening sun meeting and chatting as men do. Being Muslim, they were able to be convivial, watch football on TV or whatever, without alcohol. Doesn't the alcohol culture that we live in need to be tackled just as strongly as the smoking culture, or is it a case of what is sauce for the goose is definitely not sauce for the gander? - Yours, etc.,
Canon B.F.B. Lougheed, St Mary's Rectory, Ballycasheen, Killarney.