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In June of this year I was in a local pub, celebrating the life of a friend after her funeral. The small pub was packed and a heavy haze hung above the heads of all present. But this was haze not the due to the sombre mood of the occasion, quite the opposite as there was much laughing, talking and drinking going on; the haze was one of cigarette smoke. “Are there any free ash trays?” My friend had cried into the babble as she searched for a place to ash her cigarette; all the ash trays had been snapped up quickly and placed on people’s tables. Just about everyone had a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other and the atmosphere was one of fond reflection among a large group packed into small place, laughing, drinking and smoking together. The smoky atmosphere of the pub ensured that by the end of the night, I went home with my hair and clothes had smelling thoroughly of cigarette smoke. This was, of course, before the pub and club smoking bans had come into effect.


More recently, I visited the same pub. As I sat in the very same seat I had occupied back in June, the change in atmosphere was remarkable. The smell of the place and the clarity of the air struck me immediately, it was strange to see the air in a pub so clear. And then, in an inconspicuous corner I spotted the shiny new “No smoking” sign tacked onto a pin-board amongst advertisements for upcoming events and community notices. Another thing I noticed though, was nearly everyone in the bar ducking out at some point to have a cigarette on the pavement or in the small court yard. The bans it seems, have not encouraged everyone to quit immediately, but perhaps this will come in time.

To be honest, I expected the new laws to enjoy a brief period of compliance, but to be largely flouted and ignored in the long run. I perceived the general attitude towards the impending ban to be flippant, as clubs advertised the night before the bans came into effect as ‘smokers...