What can Ireland's smoking ban teach UK hospitality?

Legend has it that water from Dublin's River Liffey is the reason Guinness tastes so good in its homeland. But some would now argue that Ireland's national drink has begun to slip down more easily because of something in the air - or rather the lack of it.

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When Ireland banned smoking in the workplace on 29 March 2004, some heralded it as a forward-looking move designed to safeguard the health of the country's 200,000 hospitality workers. Others, pointing to the traditional union between fag and pint, forecast the death of the licensed sector.

Although the demise hasn't occurred, people in the UK are looking across the Irish Sea for clues as to what will happen here when punters are forced to stub out smoking in Scotland in 2006 and in venues serving food in England and Wales come the end of 2008. Drawing conclusions is difficult because of conflicting data about the impact of the ban, which has put Irish bar sales down by anything between 3.5% (Central Statistics Office, a figure in line with trend) and 9% (Licensed Vintners Association). The changing nature of Irish social behaviour also clouds the picture. But there are some simple messages as to what the ban might mean for hospitality businesses in the UK: a beer garden is a plus; staff will be healthier; some may lose their jobs; when punters stop lighting up it will leave your premises smelling distinctly odd; and a partial ban in England and Wales will cause uncertainty. If you've got a beer garden - congratulations. Despite the fact that bar sales have fallen in Ireland since the ban, venues with an outside area have cashed in. Saturday night takings have nearly doubled to €14,000 (£9,580) at O'Donoghue's pub on Merrion Row, Dublin. Barman Greg Sperrin says that before the ban sales were about €8,000 (£5,475). "It has been a very rough ride for some but we've been fine with a beer garden," he adds. The pub has had to take on two extra barmen as a result of the rush. Maguire's on Lower Baggot Street has a heated beer garden complete with plasma TV and outside bar. Last Monday night, with the indoor area empty, between 20 and 30 people chatted and smoked outside. General manager Tom Booth says he wanted to make smokers feel as comfortable as possible. "We tried to take the inside outside - not just a plank of wood and an umbrella. We're getting new customers in off the street," he says. Things are quieter a few hundred yards down the road at Foley's pub on Merrion Street. When *Caterer* visited recently, the three members of staff outnumbered the guests, despite the celebrity endorsements hanging on the pub wall (Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker, arms draped around the barman). "We're knackered because we've got no space to grow into," says bar manager Joe Doohan. "We were taking €8,000 (£5,475) on a good Friday night before the ban. Now we're lucky if it's €5,000 (£3,420). It's even worse earlier in the week and the people that come in are not staying as long. We've had to start offering food." Some have given up the chase completely. "You just need to look in the papers. There's a lot of pub property up for sale as landlords are feeling the pinch and panicking," Sperrin says. Auctioneers John P Younge, which trades in licensed property, has also noticed more pubs changing hands. The company's annual sales grew from €40m (£27.2m) to €50m (£34m) after the ban came in. A spokeswoman for the company says that while wet-led pubs in traditionally working-class areas have dropped in value by 10% since the ban, those with a beer garden have retained their value. "City-centre pubs have also held their value, whether they have a beer garden or not," she adds. "Landlords can change their offer and customers are more accepting of the ban." Another lesson to be learnt is that your staff's health will improve. A study by the Respiratory Laboratory at St James's Hospital in Dublin has found that the level of carbon monoxide in non-smoking bar workers' lungs has fallen by 45% since the ban. And a report by the Office of Tobacco Control discovered an 87.6% drop in carcinogenic airborne particles inside pubs. Sperrin has noticed the improvement. "When I get home I'm hardly coughing at all - not like before." Although it is too early to discern a positive impact on the nation's health, early signs are encouraging. "Anecdotal evidence suggests that bronchitis and respiratory cases are falling in hospitals," says Eamon Corcoran, principal officer of the public health division at the government's Department of Health and Children. But Ireland's experience does demonstrate that some staff will probably lose their jobs. According to the Licensed Vintners Association, which represents 95% of Dublin publicans, 2,000 mainly part-time jobs have been lost in the Irish capital since the ban. The Vintner's Federation of Ireland, which represents more than 6,000 rural publicans, has more alarming figures. "According to recent Central Statistics Office figures, 7,600 jobs were lost in the hospitality sector in 2004 - while increases were experienced in every other sector." But can the job losses be put down to the smoking ban? Bar union Mandate says not. "The impact of the ban on jobs has been marginal, with very few reported job losses attributed solely to the ban," a spokesman says. "The Irish licensed trade had been going through a difficult period prior to the ban and this has continued." The picture is further blurred by figures from Irish national employment agency F‡s, which showed an increase of 600 bar staff in the third quarter of 2004 - the first rise in a year. Another thing that landlords in a smoke-free Ireland have noticed is that some weird and wonderful smells come out of the woodwork when the fug clears. "I was in a nightclub last Saturday and had to leave," says Dubliner Deborah Keane. "The smell coming from the floor made me want to be sick." So one result of the ban is that you may have to have to get a good cleaner. Probably one of the most valuable lessons to be learnt from Ireland's experience is that a partial ban in England and Wales may prove confusing. Punters will only have to stub out in premises where food is prepared, which means licensees are forced to decide between becoming wet- or dry-led businesses. Some fear that choosing the no-smoking route, while customers are free to light up just down the road, will hit their business. Large pub chains are also unhappy. A patchy ban could bring operational difficulties and is part of the reason that JD Wetherspoon will pre-empt the ban and go completely smoke-free from next year. It is a problem they are trying to avoid in Liverpool. SmokeFree Liverpool, a partnership between three charities, the local council and health primary care trusts, wants a Local Act of Parliament to impose a blanket ban in all enclosed workplaces. A spokeswoman for the group says: "The proposal to prohibit smoking in the bar area of exempted pubs cannot provide adequate protection for employees. Ventilation systems are expensive and at best only partly effective. An end to smoking in all workplaces would be simpler, cheaper and more effective and create a level playing field for all businesses." The encouraging news for Liverpool publicans and hospitality businesses is that, one year on, an overwhelming number of Irish back the total ban. A survey by the Office for Tobacco Control has found that 96% think the ban was a good idea (including 80% of smokers) while 96% (including 89% of smokers) believe it has been successful. The changing Irish society The fall in the number of pub-goers in Ireland started before the smoking ban came in. According to the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA), there has been an annual 3% drop in bar sales since 2000. Some put the fall down to the high price of drink - between €4 (£2.75) and €5 (£3.40) for a pint of Guinness. Others believe that the recent surge in the Irish economy has brought changing tastes among young people, who are now more likely to spend their cash on weekend breaks and plasma TVs than in the local boozer. Rising mortgages and longer working hours have also restricted what people spend in the pub compared with a decade ago. Ireland's crackdown on drink-driving has also been blamed, while other observers believe more people are staying at home simply so they can smoke. A spokesman for the Irish Off Licence Association says sales have risen by 7% since the ban. Whatever the reasons, the Irish ban has not converted non-pub goers."The 15% of the population that didn't go to pubs have still stayed away," says Donall O'Keeffe, chief executive of the LVA. "Pubs didn't figure in their lives pre- or post-ban." Lessons from the Irish smoking ban - A beer garden is a plus - Staff will be healthier - Some staff may lose their jobs - The boozer might smell strange - A partial ban in England and Wales will cause uncertainty Direct action in Liverpool A group of Liverpool resturateurs and publicans went on a fact-finding trip to Dublin at the beginning fo April. Their aim was to learn from Ireland's experiences ahead of the city's proposed blanket ban in 2008 - the same year it will be crowned European City of Culture. But one publican had made his mind up before going. "Not many people have got the balls to go no-smoking," says Ivan Jenkins, landlord of the Blackburne Arms pun in Liverpool, "but I have." The Punch-owned pub and restaurant will ban smoking in July, three-and-a-half years before the Government outlaws lighting up in premises where food is served in Englang and Wales. Jenkins thinks sales will go through the roof. "People have told me I am mad," he says, "but my father always told me that whatever happens in the USA will happen here in 10 years." Is his confidence well placed? For him maybe. The pub is located in the city's theatre district and Jenkins hope to pull in middle-class drinkers looking ot avoid the fug elsewhere. *Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 21 April 2005*