One of the county's largest hotel groups, Inua Hospitality has ceased selling cigarettes and tobacco products across its 11 hotels.
CEO of the Cork headquartered Inua Hospitality, Sean O’Driscoll today confirmed the move stating that it is "due to less consumer demand and also the less stress on personnel regarding their duties and application of the sale of tobacco legislation".
As part of the move, the hotel group has removed all cigarette vending machines from its hotel and Mr O’Driscoll added: "Given the reduction in the number of people smoking cigarettes, we feel it is no longer vital for hotels to sell cigarettes. This is based on guest feedback."
Mr O’Driscoll stated that the move also concerned the protection of its 1,300 employees.
The Inua hotel group headquartered on Anglesea Street,
Ballintemple, Cork, last year recorded revenues of €78m and asked on the revenue impact of the non-sale of cigarettes, Mr O’Driscoll said that the move will not have any material impact on revenues.
Mr O’Driscoll made his comments after he was, in his role as a nominee of an Inua hotel firm, Inua Limerick General Partners Ltd, which operates the Radisson Blu and Spa hotel at Limerick was convicted and fined €400 for the sale by a Radisson Blu Limerick hotel staff member of tobacco products to a 14 year old girl on May 20th last.
A guilty plea was made concerning the HSE prosecution comprises of two summons against Mr O’Driscoll in his role as company nominee.
The HSE prosecution arose from where the HSE employed the 14 year old 'secret shopper’ on the date to test the hotel’s compliance with the sale of tobacco legislation.
The HSE withdrew a prosecution against the Radisson staff member who sold the teenager the cigarettes via a token for a cigarette vending machine. The court was told the young employee remains an employee of the hotel and was undergoing three weeks induction training at the time.
Solicitor for Inua Hospitality, Harry McCullagh told a sitting of Ennis District Court that the HSE prosecution of the hotel for the sale of cigarettes to a minor "was the final straw" in the group’s decision to end the sale of cigarettes.
In court, Judge Mary Larkin praised Mr O'Driscoll’s move to end the selling of cigarettes across the hotels.
She said: "I can’t argue but that Mr O’Driscoll has dealt with it the right way and it is not going to be dealing or selling any cigarettes or matters upsetting people’s health."
Mr O’Driscoll said today that the company implemented the no sale of cigarettes last October "and we have received no negative feedback from our guests".
The group’s hotels also include Radisson hotels in Athlone, Sligo and Cork. The group also operates the Muckross Park Hotel & Spa in Co Kerry along with hotels in Kilkenny, Dundalk, Tullamore and Dublin.
The sale of cigarettes remains big business nationally. The Revenue Commissioners confirmed on Wednesday that last year it received €1.16bn from excise duty receipts on tobacco sales and this followed €1.31bn received under the same heading in 2021.
The 'black market’ for cigarettes continues and last year Revenue seized 51.61m contraband cigarettes with a value of €39.5m up on the 48.2m contraband cigarettes seized in 2021 with a value of €32.8m.
