Vintners threaten to ignore smoke ban

Heated opposition to the Government's planned smoking ban was expressed at a mass meeting of publicans yesterday, some of whom threatened not to enforce the new law next January.

At the meeting in Portlaoise attended by over 1,200 members of the Vintners' Federation of Ireland, there were also calls for a number of radical steps such as withholding payment of VAT, and standing candidates in the local elections in protest over the ban.

The federation's 60-member national executive council will consider what steps will be taken in the coming weeks.

The VFI's chief executive, Mr Tadhg O'Sullivan, said publicans should not be asked to enforce a ban which, he said, would put staff members at risk of violence.

"Publicans are not policemen," he said. "We cannot implement these regulations; they're not capable of being enforced. It's not a matter of breaking the law, it's the law trying to break you.

"This can't be enforced without the active participation of staff and licence holders. And are they going to put themselves and their businesses at risk by trying to enforce what's unenforceable?"

Under the regulations, due on January 26th, publicans may be fined up to €1,900 for failing to enforce the ban, while customers who flout the law may be fined around €300.

After the meeting, Mr O'Sullivan told The Irish Times he was not exhorting members to break the law by failing to enforce the ban, but insisted the planned ban would be impossible to implement in any case. However, many publicans yesterday said they were willing the flout the law and risk fines rather than implement the proposed measures.

"My address at the moment is Galway," said VFI member Mr Ronan Lawless.

"But it might be Mountjoy soon, because I haven't a bull's notion of putting this through."

The national executive council is to meet in the coming weeks and is expected to agree on challenging the constitutionality of the ban.

Any legal challenges, which are also being considered by the Licensed Vintner's Association and the Irish Hospitality Industry Alliance, will not proceed until details of the implementation of the ban are published.

The VFI is also consider establishing a special legal fund to pay for the legal costs and to compensate members fined for flouting the law.

However, the executive council is unlikely to throw its weight behind more radical measures such as the withholding of VAT, executive council sources said yesterday.

The national executive council was also urged to field candidates in the upcoming local and European elections due to the lack of Opposition support for the Government's ban.

Cllr Carmel Fay, a publican from Grandard, Co Longford, said she was resigning from Fianna Fáil in protest over her party's stance, and urged other politicians to do likewise.

There was also widespread support for Cllr Val Hanley, who resigned as chairman of the Western Health Board in protest over the smoking ban. Mr Hanley is a former Fianna Fáil lord mayor of Galway and a publican.

"The person who commits the crime should pay the fine," Cllr Hanley said. "The message that should go from here this afternoon is, 'Minister, we won't pay the fine'."

Many publicans in the Border region also expressed fears that they face closure when the ban is implemented.

Ms Alice Lynch, a publican near Lifford, Co Donegal, said business was already being hit by customers opting to take a special "smoking bus" four miles across the Border to pubs in Strabane.

There were also calls for moderation from some publicans, mostly members of the executive council, who said all protests must be legal.

Mr Con Dennehy, a national executive member from Cork, said going down the road of militancy could be dangerous.

VFI member Mr Michael Howard said: "We have to be absolutely sure that whatever the consequences are, we should stand side-by-side 100 per cent in a campaign that is thorough, effective and organised."