How Ireland saw off tobacco lobby and led world into a healthy new era

Twenty years ago today – March 29, 2004 – Ireland became the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace, including bars and restaurants. Like other pieces of controversial legislation in the past, the Public Health (Tobacco) Act, introduced by the then health minister Micheál Martin, faced major opposition from a wide range of groups. This included the powerful tobacco lobby.

Opposition to anti-smoking legislation was not new, and the move to an all-out ban came gradually, following years of debate between the pro- and anti-smoking lobbies.

Restrictions on tobacco advertising had already been introduced in the 1980s, and in 1988 smoking was banned on buses and in public buildings.

One of the most important steps towards the workplace smoking ban was the findings of the Oireacht as Joint Committee on Health and Children in 1999, under the chairmanship of then-Fine Gael TD Alan Shatter.

This produced a new National Anti-Smoking Strategy which was adopted as official government policy.

In July 2000, tobacco sponsorship and advertising were banned. Twoyears later, the Office of Tobacco Control was established as a statutory body, headed by senior Department of Health civil servant Tom Power.

With the publication in January 2003 of the “Report on the Health Effects of Environmental Tobacco Smoke in the Workplace”, Martin announced his intention to implement a complete ban on smoking in the workplace, to take effect the following year.

While Martin and his policy-makers were working to ensure that the forthcoming legislation was robust enough to withstand opposition and possible legal challenges, opposition forces were gathering to resist its implementation.

No country had gone so far in tackling cigarette addiction and there were doubts that Ireland would succeed against the influential tobacco industry, which had initiated a major lobbying campaign to ensure the proposed legislation did not come to fruition.

The powerful Licensed Vintners Association and the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland rallied its members nationwide, claiming the legislation was the final nail in the coffin of the traditional Irish pub.

One of Micheál Martin’s fellow Corkmen, who owned a bar and restaurant in Cobh, called for the then minister to be dismissed by then taoiseach Bertie Ahern for “being a zealot”.

Constituency clinics of backbench TDs were filled by publicans claiming that the legislation would cause significant job losses and pub closures across the country.

Some employers said theywere fearful that a ban would create tensions in the workplace, adding that the imposition of onerous inspection regimes to ensure compliance would cost them money.

The Irish Hospitality Industry Alliance claimed that thousands of jobs would be lost in the tourism and hospitality sector and that international visitors to Ireland would feel unwelcome here.

A consistent message by the industry lobby groups was emphasising the negative consequences of the ban, in particular its economic effects on employment and revenue.

In addition to economic arguments, possible infringements on the civil liberties of individual smokers was also mooted by anti-ban campaigners, alongside accusations that a nannystate was being imposed on the Irish people.

However, a number of groups were also emerging on the pro-ban side to lobby in support of the ban on workplace smoking.

Among them was the anti-smoking campaign group ASH Ireland, which took a prominent role in the campaign and formed a health alliance with a number of interested agencies, including the Irish Cancer Society and the Irish Heart Foundation.

Many other groups were incorporated into the alliance, including trade unions representing doctors, nurses, and bar staff.

Throughout 2003 and early 2004, both sides conducted a vigorous media campaign, in which the arguments for and against smoke-free workplaces were debated in print and broadcast media.

Crucial to winning these debates for the pro-ban side was the fact that the workplace smoking ban was not about getting people to stop smoking, but about protecting workers.

Last-minute attempts to reach a compromise were proposed, with a request that parts of bars and restaurants be dedicated as smoking areas. Arguing that such a course of action was unworkable

‘Constituency clinics of backbench TDs were filled by publicans claiming that the legislation would cause significant job losses and pub closures’

as smoke drifts, a polite refusal was given by the Department of Health, and plans to launch the world’s first workplace smoking ban proceeded.

When March 29, 2004, finally arrived, ashtrays vanished overnight from Ireland’s pubs, clubs and restaurants.

The only places exempt from the legislation were hospices, nursing homes, psychiatric hospitals, prisons and other areas of detention. Anyone caught smoking in a designated workplace faced a fine of €3,000.

On launch day and in the days that followed, regulatory authorities waited with some degree of anxiety to see how compliant people were going to be.

The world’s media descended on Ireland and reported on a population accepting the new environment in a generally positive manner.

From the beginning, the ban was mainly self-enforced by the public and compliance was remarkably high.

Beer gardens and outside smoking areas sprung up all over the country. Many smokers began striking up conversations with fellow smoking strangers, creating a new social dynamic.

One of the first acts of defiance came from an unusual location: Dáil Éireann. Two days after the introduction of the ban, John Deasy, the then Fine Gael justice spokesperson, smoked in the Dáil bar. He was sacked from the Fine Gael front bench for breaching the ban.

Cigarette sales dropped by 60pc in bars and it was reported that 7,000 people gave up smoking in the 12 months following the introduction of the ban.

Angry vintners continued to decry the legislation as unworkable. Publicans called on the Government for the ban to be eased.

In some areas, publicans put ashtrays back on tables in the vain hope restrictions would be eased, but a spate of prosecutions ensured that their defiance was short-lived.

In the months and years following the introduction of the ban, Ireland’s lead in the war against smoking was followed by several countries.

In June 2004, Norway became the second country to introduce a ban. It was followed by New Zealand, Italy, Scotland, Wales, England, Brazil, Greece and India.

Twenty years after its introduction, the results of the ban on workplace smoking are indisputable. Independent research clearly demonstrates that thousands of lives have been saved by its introduction.

The health voice had to be prominent to ensure behavioural change, with a clear and easily understood rationale for the general public to adhere to. It was somewhat similar to the strategy used in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic,

A consistent and simple message accompanied by ongoing political leadership was the hallmark of the successful campaign to introduce the workplace smoking ban.

Such a strategy will need to be continued as the emergence of alternatives to traditional tobacco products, in the form of e-cigarettes and vapes, continues to threaten the nation’s health.