Waterford publican says Fianna Fáil are to blame for the smoking ban and how it was introduced.
Geoff Power is the proprietor of Geoff's Café Bar on John Street, one of Waterford city's busiest pubs. In protest over the smoking ban he has posted a sign in the pub window declaring 'Don’t Vote Fianna Fail’. While Geoff Power is complying with the law he is not happy with how the ban was implemented. He believes those affected by it were not consulted.
Fianna Fáil councillor Stephanie Keating is a smoker, but she backs the smoking ban completely. She is at pains to point out the ban came about through cross-party support. In her view the sign in the window is,
Based on inaccurate assumptions and information.
Geoff Power remembers when Minister for the Environment Martin Cullen made public his objections to the smoking ban. He was subsequently made to toe the party line. Stephanie Keating recalls after this incident the minister claimed he was speaking in a personal capacity as a smoker. As for the smoking ban,
Martin was quite willing to row in with it.
An unconvinced Geoff Power feels the debate is set to continue.
The smoking ban came into effect in Ireland on 29 March 2004 under the Public Health Act 2004.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 30 March 2004. The reporter is Damien Tiernan.
