February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Smoking in pubs and restaurants in the Republic of Ireland is now a thing of the past following the introduction of a nationwide smoking ban on Sunday night.
Bar managers throughout the country binned ashtrays and instructed their customers to stub out their cigarettes on the stroke of midnight as the ban came into force. Higher turnout than usual was recorded in bars up and down the country as smokers and non-smokers alike came out to mark the occasion.
The groundbreaking legislation came in for international scrutiny with media outlets from across Europe descending on Dublin. Ireland is the first country to enact a ban, though Norway plans to introduce a similar measure in June. Media teams from the U.S. and Japan also were present over the weekend and Health Minister Miche