Smoking and Irish Culture

Since the smoking ban has been introduced In Ireland, I have found the atmosphere in pubs to be a lot healthier. After a night out my clothes don’t smell of cigarettes. A pub where I socialise broke the ban and where taken to court. The pub in question was only fined €100 and €1500 in legal bills. This seems to me to be not enough of a fine to encourage other pubs to enforce the ban. Why is the smoking ban relevant to Irish culture? Because peoplle socialise not in the pubs but outside the pub where a conversion can be struck up with someone lighting up.

Ireland has implemented "the toughest smoking ban in Europe, " says Able to Know, "by extending the country's ban on smoking to bars, restaurants, clubs, offices, factories and other workplaces, in addition to the buses, cinemas, bingo halls and government buildings where smoking is already banned. The government expects a 90% compliance rate with the new measure."