DONAL FOX'S cherished daily ritual of a cup of coffee and a cigarette has been ruined.
The manager of J&M Weldon's antiques shop on South Anne Street, Dublin, used to pop across the road to the small Sandwich Bar cafe four times a day for coffee, food and a leisurely smoke.
Since the restaurant became a smoke free zone three days ago as a result of new Government regulations, Mr Fox has had to go out into the street to smoke.
"Now I only spend 20 minutes here for lunch instead of three quarters of an hour and then I have to walk around outside for a smoke or go to another coffee bar round the corner," said Mr Fox. "It's OK in the summer time but what am I supposed to do in the winter when its raining?"
The Sandwich Bar's owners, Catherine and Thomas Foy, banned smoking to comply with the spirit of the Tobacco (Health Promotion and Protection) Regulations.
Under these regulations, all restaurants, canteens, cafe's and snack bars now have to turn at least half of the total seating area into a no smoking zone.
The no smoking area can be a quarter of the total seating area if the local health board is satisfied that ventilation is "adequate" to prevent the circulation of smoke into it.
Anyone prosecuted for smoking in a no smoking area is liable to a maximum fine of £100. Managers or owners who do not comply with the regulations can be fined up to £500 and/or imprisoned for six months.
Mr and Ms Foy say they decided on the blanket ban because the shop is too small to ensure that smoke wouldn't circulate to other customers.
"A lot of our non smoking customers are thrilled about it because they hated it when people lit up but we've had one or two regular customers who smoke whom we haven't seen since," said Ms Foy. If the move turns out to be bad for business, the couple said they would consider installing a ventilator.
The Restaurants Association of Ireland, which has 400 members countrywide, is opposed to the regulations, which it claims are far from customer friendly.
"For the past few years we have been operating a courtesy of choice policy where we asked customers if they would like to sit in the smoking or no smoking areas. These areas could be expanded or contracted as they needed them", said the association's president, Ms Kay Kaball.
According to Ms Kaball, the new requirement that a fixed area be set aside for non smokers will mean less flexibility for customers and restaurateurs.
She said: "We feel we are in the hospitality business not the policing business but we're now faced with saying to people that you can't come in tonight because we don't have seats in the section you want to sit in even though there are empty seats in another section."
Mr Norman Hewson, the owner of Tosca in Suffolk Street, Dublin, has turned six tables in the back of his 29 table restaurant over to nonsmokers. A chalk board outside the premises jokingly warns anyone caught igniting "cigars, cigarettes or cigarillos in a non ciggy zone" that they are liable to whipping and/or a fine.
While he favours the regulations, Mr Hewson said he would prefer if all restaurants were nonsmoking areas.