Heartland

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6478369.stm

I have a slight professional interest in this.
As the UK's gaelic test pilots , If you have any thoughts on this, or my queries below and some time to share, I'd be grateful

I'm not overly bothered about the moral / human rights angle more the practicalities of the application of the legislation.

How much difference has the ban made?
Are there less people in the bars?
Are people smoking and drinking at home more / longer?
Are nightclubs affected , attendance wise ?

Cheers in advance for any input

We've had one for about 3 years now, and it's worked pretty well. A lot of the bars that were hit by it at the start (mainly old men's/boozer's pubs) have managed to bounce back OK. Going outside for a smoke is not really that bad once you get used to it, and you do get an opportunity and an excuse to meet new people, which is always a good thing. The air in bars themselves is a whole lot cleaner too, which benefits smokers and non-smokers alike. On the downside, you suddenly find out how much farting goes on, and it's a bit of a pain in the winter.

Exactly.

As a smoker, I am all in favor of the smoking ban myself. Some pubs and all restaurants in Belgium are already smoke-free. Lightin one up ouside from time to time is not the end of the world for me. On the cotrary, I smoke less now as well, I do not feel inclined to light one up every five minutes now.

Losing staff because of a smoking ban? Why? Less people needed to fish soggy fag butts out of the urinoirs? That's a GOOD thing.

As MH said: it will give wome wobbling in the infrastructure and maybe the jobs in the beginning, but after a couple of years, everything will be fine again, except for the odd grumbling Aulde Sodde in the corner reminiscing about happier times when you could cut the smoke in the pub...

IZ.

mh wrote:We've had one for about 3 years now, and it's worked pretty well. A lot of the bars that were hit by it at the start (mainly old men's/boozer's pubs) have managed to bounce back OK. Going outside for a smoke is not really that bad once you get used to it, and you do get an opportunity and an excuse to meet new people, which is always a good thing. The air in bars themselves is a whole lot cleaner too, which benefits smokers and non-smokers alike. On the downside, you suddenly find out how much farting goes on, and it's a bit of a pain in the winter.

ive been to Eire quite a few times since the ban and it seems like business as usual but as MH said, there's the SMELLS! Maybe its just the pubs I was frequenting but the smells were largely of stale beer and p!ss!

Thanks for that people
I can use acouple of quotes there if that's OK and .....I'll watch out for the smells

thanks for your time !