rue or false? More people smoke in
Europe than in the U.S. The answer is "true." About one out of
three smoke on the Continent, compared with about one in five here.
But the antismoking lobby in many European countries is gaining
ground, and cultural changes are afoot.
Consider this: beginning Jan. 1, unless the Irish government can
be persuaded to change its plan, smoking in public places will be
forbidden. That means the legendary haze of smoke in Irish pubs
will disappear. Will it work? It will, says CIE Tours president
Brian Stack.
"When they banned smoking on airplanes, a lot of people said
they would never fly again, but they went ahead and flew. The
people will get used to not smoking in pubs, as well. Of course, if
you've been smoking for 40 years in the same pub in Kinsale in
county Cork, Sneem in county Kerry or some other place that is far
from a big city, I doubt the pub owner will call the police."
Stack says that the Irish people will handle no-smoking in pubs
just as New Yorkers have. They'll go outside and light up.
"It's actually a plus to have to go outside of an Irish pub or
restaurant to smoke. You'll make more friends out there, you'll
have plenty of room and there's a lot more to see outside the pub
than inside it," he says.
Nonetheless, the Irish hospitality industry is up in arms over
the prospect of having the no-smoking lamp lit across the country.
Some grumble that Micheal Martin, the health minister pushing the
idea, favors a "nanny state" -- a quaint term for government
overregulation. Owners of many restaurants and pubs worry that a
no-smoking policy will keep people at home. But others says it may
bring more people out, and smokers will find a way to deal with the
rules.
Some in Ireland worry that a smoking ban would dilute the craic,
the Irish term for an atmosphere conducive to good times.
Environment minister Martin Cullen, a smoker himself, opposes
Michael Martin's initiative and wants a compromise, perhaps
creating separate rooms where people can smoke.
But the health concerns surrounding smoke-filled rooms,
including the effects on pub staff, are likely to prevail, and
stricter rules, perhaps even the complete ban, are expected.
Ireland is the first European country to push this initiative,
but others are in the game. Norway will have new rules about public
smoking next year, and discussions are under way in several other
countries.
As for the effect on tourism from the U.S., Stack of CIE says
Americans may not be more encouraged to travel to Ireland but it
certainly won't stop them.
"We've all gotten used to these kinds of rules and learned to
live with them."