On Thursday night the retired police 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 policeman, had joined the ranks of those who flocked to the only smoking pub in town for a puff.

Danny Brogan, the proprietor, placed ashtrays on the tables bar while he puffed on 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 (eejit). You’re nothing but a Cork-born langer.”

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 around pleading on Brogan’s behalf. But the law had spoken. For Brogan and his fellow smoking dissidents, the rebellion was over.

When the smoking ban was introduced in March, it was hailed as a success. Opinion polls put more than a large majority in favour of it. In its first few months of operation, nobody had been prosecuted. Only publicans remained disaffected. Some complained that they were losing business.

Ciaran Levanzin and Ronan Lawless, owners of Fibber Magees pub in Eyre Square, Galway, claimed that 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,” Lawless had said. “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 Kendellan, owner of Paddy the Farmer’s in Cork.

The publicans risked prosecution, a £2000 (€3,000) fine and their customers a fine of £2000 for those caught smoking on the premises. The government and the authorities moved fast to quell the insurgents. Rory Brady, the attorney-general, intervened, personally writing to warn Lawless, of Fibber Magees, that he must comply. “If you do otherwise you will expose yourself to serious personal and financial consequences,” he thundered.

Martin was standing 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 type of uprising,” said a government adviser. “And we’re expecting more in the months ahead. 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 is thrown at him.”

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