Jack Hartnett smoked 60 cigarettes a day until the introduction of the smoking ban more than three months ago. Now he is down to 10. On Thursday night, the retired garda sergeant sat enveloped in a cloud of smoke at Connie Doolan’s bar in Cobh, Co Cork, where the owner was illegally allowing patrons to light up. Hartnett and his best friend, Denis O’Keeffe, another retired garda, had joined the ranks of those who flocked to the only smoking pub in town.

Danny Brogan, the proprietor, placed ashtrays around the bar while he smoked a cigar. Shouts rang out when Micheal Martin, the health minister flashed up on the television screen warning publicans to toe the line: “You’re a langer. You’re nothing but a Cork-born langer.”

But their bravado was short-lived. At 10.30pm, the game was up. John Maher, an environmental health officer, and his assistant strode into Brogan’s bar, a warning note in hand. “I couldn’t see you there for all the smoke,” quipped Maher. He inspected the “smoking room”, served a warning about High Court action, and left a tearful Brogan pleading for leniency.

Customers gathered round pleading on Brogan’s behalf, but the law had spoken. For Brogan and his fellow smoking dissidents, the rebellion was short-lived.

WHEN Ireland’s smoking ban was introduced in March, it was hailed as a success. Opinion polls indicated a large majority were in favour of it. In its first few months of operation, nobody was prosecuted. Only publicans remained disaffected. Some complained that they were losing business.

Ciaran Levanzin and Ronan Lawless, the owners of Fibber Magees pub in Eyre Square, Galway, claimed their business was down by two-thirds. Early last week, Levanzin plonked ashtrays on the tables in an upstairs room, texted his smoking customers and erected a sign saying: “You are now entering a smoking zone.” On Tuesday night the pub was packed for the first time in months.

“We’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t,” said Lawless. “We’re either going to go out of business or be put out of business.”

News of the rebellion fanned across the country like a trail of cigarette smoke. Dozens of other publicans promised to join the protest, including Brogan. He had always secretly allowed select customers to smoke but now came out of the closet. “This is our moment. We have to stand together and build momentum,” said Gareth Kendellen, the owner of Paddy the Farmer’s pub in Cork city.

The publicans risked prosecution, a €3,000 fine and their customers a fine of €3,000 for those caught smoking on the premises. The government and the authorities moved fast to quell the insurgents. Rory Brady, the attorney-general, intervened, writing personally to warn Lawless that he was not above the law and must comply. “If you do otherwise you will expose yourself to serious personal and financial consequences,” he wrote.

Martin stood firm. With other countries considering similar smoking bans, all eyes were on Ireland. He was expecting trouble. “He has been waiting since March 29 for this uprising,” said a senior government adviser. “And we’re expecting more. This isn’t a one-off concerted effort; the next few months will be troublesome. Everyone is watching us now, in the north, Britain and in Europe. They will try and use a perceived lack of success in Ireland to thwart proposed bans elsewhere. But Martin is steadfast on this one and prepared for whatever action is thrown at him.”

Lawless, although he has agreed to uphold the ban, is talking about taking legal action but the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) has ruled it out. “We sought advice from two senior counsel on the issue; both said we had a 30-40% chance of success and it would cost €700,000,” said Seamus O’Donoghue, the VFI president.

Is it really true to say publicans have suffered from the smoking ban? Lawless claimed business across his chain of pubs was down 63% and 67% in Fibber Magees. He blamed the smoking ban. But there are other factors, such as the construction work that has turned Eyre Square into a building site, and a seasonal clientele of students.

“The Vintners are saying the sky has fallen in because of the smoking ban, but we have already seen that alcohol consumption has been falling since the beginning of last year,” said Moore McDowell, an economist at University College Dublin. McDowell, a sceptic about such “draconian legislation” was commissioned last year by the Office of Tobacco Control to analyse international studies on the effect of previous smoking bans on business. There was “no evidence of any effect” but that in itself does not tell us much. He said it was too soon to say whether the trend in alcohol consumption in Ireland was influenced by the ban.

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