The Sunday Independent, July 11, 2004
INTERNATIONAL
Page 19
Pubs defeated
Irish ale houses drop out of rebellion against smoking ban DUBLIN, Ireland The Associated Press
M
ore pub owners rebelling against Ireland’s threemonth-old ban on smoking admitted defeat late last week after facing a range of legal sanctions. Four pubs in County Cork, southwest Ireland, had decided to permit smoking on their premises in support of the first pub to do so publicly, Fibber Magees in the western city of Galway. Health Minister Michael Martin promised to punish the owners of Fibber Magees, a Galway pub claiming it has lost two-thirds of its business since the ban became law three months ago. “You can take it from me that there’ll be no holds barred in terms of taking this head-on and upholding the law,” says Martin, who led a two-year campaign to outlaw smoking in enclosed workplaces. He called the protest “an affront to the Irish people and an unacceptable defiance of the law.” Fibber Magees owner Ronan Lawless gave in to Martin and the
law, and the four County Cork pubs — Paddy the Farmers, Connie Doolan’s, The Loft and Ozzie’s Bar — followed suit the next day under threat of heavy fines, High Court injunctions and the eventual loss of their business licences. “We got a lot of support from both smokers and nonsmokers. And for 24 hours at least we brought back the atmosphere that has been lost,” says Gareth Kendellan, owner of Paddy the Farmers, one of the biggest pubs in the city of Cork. His pub permitted smoking recently and was almost immediately busted by plainclothes environmental health officers. Much the same happened to Danny Brogan, owner of Connie Doolan’s in the nearby port of Cobh, which had been quietly breaking the ban since its March 29 introduction. Brogan went public after visiting Fibber Magees this week, and almost immediately was visited by health officers too. Both Brogan and Kendellan say they were disappointed that more pub owners didn’t join the protest.
Brogan says the government might have been forced to back down, and permit smoking sections in pubs, if hundreds of pubs had rebelled. The rebel pubs law-breaking has divided Ireland as much as the ban itself. A phone-in poll this week on RTE, the state broadcasters, attracted 22,000 callers, 54 per cent of whom opposed the rebellion. Pub owners insist the ban is harming their business and threatening the viability of many bars, particularly in rural areas. The Vintners Federation, which represents more than 700 pubs in Dublin, published a members survey Friday that claimed their
‘We are still alien to one another’ From page 18 How can I say I’m a teacher, if I don’t teach them the things that are really valuable, and that they really want to know about? I am proud of who I am and where I come from, just the same as they are. Once we both understood that there would be no judgment between us, we are free to discuss anything. We are still alien to one another when it comes to everything, but both parties can respect that. And now, God have mercy on the one who spits or flicks anything from their body anywhere near me! I give them the same look they give me when I go out wearing spaghetti straps. A pizza shop opened in our town the other day (not the best in the world, but it’s cheese), and as we sat eating, like gulls, Eric turned to me and said, “Ya know, of all of the things we will take from our stay here, perhaps the best thing is that we will always appreciate our homefood.”
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I think it’s this way with everything, not just the food. The way we treat each other in Newfoundland is beautiful. We look at our waiters when we order our food, we hold the door for each other, we say thank you, you’re welcome, and excuse me to total strangers. The little things about our culture matter more here than they ever did when we were home. When you stop reading, just take a look around you, whether you are at home, in a restaurant or on the street. Just watch the people around you and how they behave, admire the food you are eating, and appreciate the next conversation you have with anyone. Take every chance to sit by the ocean and look at the ocean, even if it is from an old stinky wharf. We have everything and everyone we need all around us, but we never take enough time to appreciate the beauty of where we are. The Chinese have a saying, “If the orange tree bloomed everyday, who would notice the fragile beauty of its blossoms?”
Eamonn Farrell/Photocall Ireland
A smoke and a pint: A God-given right?
I’ve thought about it, and I disagree with this idiom. I think I could manage to look at orange blossoms and admire them endlessly … once I understand how their presence changes the day. Then again, maybe I’m just a sucker for fresh air and Ziggy Fries, eh? Writer’s note: The purpose of this essay was to show a Newfoundlander’s thoughts while away from home. China has a beauty all its own, and I have made friends and memories that I will carry with me until the day I die. The people are kind, warm and giving, the school is very willing to take care of us, real Chinese food is delicious. I just wanted to show the things about our culture that you would miss if you had to do without them. I’m sure if you ask a Chinese immigrant in Canada, they would have many of their own culture shock stories to share. Do you know a Newfoundlander or Labradorian living away? Email editorial@theindependent.ca
income had slumped by 16 per cent since the ban began, and that 2,000 bar staff had been laid off. But the major union representing bar staff, Mandate, immediately accused the pub owners of inventing those figures. Mandate union organizer Danny Cassidy said its union membership had remained steady and called on pub owners to lower their drink prices if they wanted more business. Ireland’s anti-smoking measure is a close copy of anti-smoking crackdowns in California and more than a dozen Canadian and U.S. cities. Toronto introduced a smoking ban in bars that kicked in June 1.
But the countrywide ban provoked strong opposition from owners of the country’s 10,000plus pubs, who complained roughly half of their usual customers were smokers. Until this week, however, no pub had publicly defied the government, partly because opinion polls show strong support overall in this country of 3.9 million. Ireland’s success in imposing such a sweeping social change has impressed leaders across Europe, most of whom are pursuing less severe restrictions on smoking. So far, only Norway has followed Ireland with its own ban on lighting up in the workplace, with Sweden set to do likewise next year.
Coca-Cola opens plant in Somalia NAIROBI, Kenya After a 15-year absence, Coca-Cola Co. returns to Somalia with the opening of an $8.3 million bottling plant. The new Coca-Cola plant opened in Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu and is owned by United Bottling Co., formed by a consortium of 399 Somali investors, the Atlanta-based company said from its Nairobi office in neighbouring Kenya. “It has taken six years to build up the necessary goodwill and to raise the capital invested in this project,” Abdirisak Isse, United Bottling Co.’s chair and chief executive says. The plant has 130 employees and will operate at 70 per cent of its production capacity for the time being, producing three Coca-Cola brands:
Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite. When at full capacity, the plant can produce 36,000 bottles an hour. Somalia, which has a population of seven million, has not had an effective central government since the 1991 ousting of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Much of the country’s infrastructure has been destroyed by more than a decade of banditry and clanbased fighting. The country is controlled by heavily armed militias, and businessmen employ their own gunmen for security. A 21-month-old peace process intended to end the chaos is supposed to be in its third and final phase, but the negotiations have been dogged by disputes and walkouts by Somali delegates. — The Associated Press