"McWyatt's Torch"
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Civil disobedience erupts in Ireland in the wake of a tough national smoking ban:
Give the Irish government credit, though ... at least it doesn't lie through its teeth regarding its smoking ban.
Update: The defiant pub was forced to shut down.
The owners of Fibber Magees, a pub on Eyre Square in this nightlife-rich western city [of Galway], says its business is off by two-thirds because of the smoking ban.
This week, owners Ciaran Levanzin and Ronan Lawless plunked ashtrays on upstairs tables and taped up a sign, "You are now entering a smoking area."
By text-message and telephone, frustrated smokers and others quickly spread the news of Fibber Magees' rebellion. By Tuesday night, and for the first time in months, the pub's upstairs room was packed and thick with smoke.
Lawless insists the gambit is the only way to make money. Otherwise, he says, he will be forced to close by September.
"We're damned if we do and damned if we don't," Lawless said. "We're either going to go out of business or be put out of business."
Give the Irish government credit, though ... at least it doesn't lie through its teeth regarding its smoking ban.
Update: The defiant pub was forced to shut down.
Posted by KipEsquire on
7 July 2004
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