PLANS that could make Greater Manchester the first place in the country to ban smoking in pubs, bars and restaurants are being drawn up by health chiefs.
The move comes after a fact-finding mission to Dublin, where they studied how a similar ban is working in Ireland.
Now the team from the region's NHS and local councils will consider how Greater Manchester could introduce its own ban to protect the health of people in the workplace - including nightspots.
The group met Irish Health Minister Miche'l Martin, who told how his department built support for the Irish ban, which has met virtually no resistance since it was introduced in March.
People are not allowed to smoke in Ireland's 10,000 pubs, or in restaurants and nightclubs.
The group also saw at first hand how smokers had adapted to the ban, with people gathering outside pubs and clubs to enjoy cigarettes. Some premises now have heated extensions so people can smoke in comfort.
Only one pub in the country initially flouted the ban, but the owners of Fibber Magee's bar in Galway agreed to comply after taking legal advice.
Healthy
Political leaders in Greater Manchester are now waiting to hear if a government White Paper on public health will propose a national ban or give individual councils the power to introduce legislation, which means the region could be smoke-free by 2006. Opinion polls show most people in the area would support a ban.
The delegation to Ireland included Lord Peter Smith, leader of Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, Chris Harrison, medical director of Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authority, Pat Karney, director of Greater Manchester Smoke Free Campaign, and Susan Fildes, leader of Trafford council.
Coun Karney said: "This is not about going after smokers, it's about creating a healthy, smoke-free environment in the workplace.
"In Greater Manchester, we are ahead of nearly every other region in the country and we will move really quickly once the route map is outlined by Health Secretary John Reid."
Lord Smith, leader of Wigan council, said: "There is no reason why Greater Manchester should be no different to Ireland, where the ban has been self-policing. Landlords don't want to break the law and nor do members of the public."
Irish Health Minister Mr Martin said that around 7,000 people had given up smoking since the ban - and his country would reap benefits in the long run with lower healthcare costs.
"The world has not collapsed," he said. "Irish people continue to drink and go out. People now enjoy eating and drinking in a smoke-free atmosphere."
Should smoking in the workplace be banned? Have your say.
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I wonder how many of these people are smokers? hmmm
I find it shocking that everyone is willing to swallow this completely illiberal and prescriptive policy.
I think it's a fundamental part of some pubs and clubs that they are allowed to be smoky. Places don't have to be overwhelmed in smoke, but who wants this disinfected, featureless country we're making?
Surely we should ban drinking in pubs too - some people end up talking too loudly or swaying around in a way that affects my enjoyment of the pub.
And to think that Manchester should be leading the way..... We should be the last city standing, fighting this ban to the bitter end.
Hope the ban comes in soon. I'm sick of selfish smokers in restaurants and going home with my clothes smelling of other people's smoke after a night out with friends in the pub. Perhaps this will encourage smokers to do what I did and give up for good, and enjoy better health and wealth and cut down smoking related deaths and illnesses.
I mean that there should not be any smoking ona workplace
why can't there be proper air conditioning installed in pubs and defined non-smoking / smoking areas. In the smoking areas people can go to the bar to get there drinks which would be no smoking! otherwise smokers will just go round to their mates houses and not go the pubs.
As a Barman I cannot wait for a ban on smoking.
You come home after a long shift and your clothes stink.The worst part of the job is having to empty and clean foul ashtrays and sweeping up endless cigarrette buts off the floor.
What a great idea. I think that smokers are the most inconsiderate people there are. They smoke while other people are eating and around children and then adopt an attitude if you request them to stop. This also makes them inconsiderate in other areas of life such as throwing litter in the streets. I say ban smoking everywhere and smokers please don't use the old excuse that they pay more tax than us non smokers because you also use up more ammenities than others such as medical care and street cleaners. BAN SMOKING NOW.
Free country - I don't think so.
Why don't they ban the thugs and louts who ruin one in three trips I make into town.
First the motorist now the smoker and we all just sit there accepting the views of these so called experts.
Yes smoking is harmful but so is drinking so lets ban that in pubs and restaurants as well.
One final note if health is taken so seriously how about some cleaner hospitals, fewer pointless wars, more effective roads (not speed cameras) and better workplaces as stress is the real killer.
So with all the brainpower & technology of the 21st century at our disposable, the best strategy our "forward thinking" council can come up with is an outright ban on smoking??
What about poor lollypop ladies? They have to work by the side of the road, breathing in car fumes during the course of their working day. Are they going to ban cars too?
Best news I have heard in ages!!!!!
I suffer from Cystic Fibrosis and am unable to enjoy a social life in pubs/clubs due to the smoke as it does serious damage to my lungs which is irreversible. Although I do believe smokers do have their rights they should also respect the fact that non-smokers do also.
Its all a bad habit thinking that a pint has to be in one hand and a fag in the other. I visited Dublin in May simply because it meant I could go out again and it was amazing for me personally.
Smokers werent affected either as there are areas for them created outside and believe me it was still as busy!
Pub culture is massive in this country and i strongly believe that people would soon get used to a smoke-free environment, and maybe give their lungs a break for a few hours!
i use to smoke and now i don't it was my decision. i still think people deserve a choice. the councils claim that most people would welcome the ban but i bet they didn't conduct their survey in the pubs and clubs of manchester on a friday or saturday evening? but the council will get it through because you smokers are so lazy you just haven't got the energy to fight.
Can you imagine trying to enforce a smoking ban in Tangled/Sankeys/South/etc - laughable
This is an over-the-top measure, good air conditioning and smoke-free zones would be to the satisfaction on the vast majority.
I'm not normally a radical person but I would defy any ban where possible
I am now in my fifties and have never smoked and probably never will.
What strikes me about smokers is that as soon as they realise I don,t smoke they do their best to make sure their smoking does not bother me. Doing this seems second nature to them.I am sure other non smokers are treated the same. Give smokers some credit they do have social skills and know how to behave.
What's "illiberal", Chris below, is people who inflict their dirty, foul-smelling, and health-harming habit on others. New York banned it, so did Dublin, get used to it, it's coming to Manchester.
P.S. kids working down coal mines are illegal now too.
there are also smokers on the buses too and that was supposed to be banned a while ago!
for those non smokers, try and enjoy your meal with every bite that you have you have to have the smoke from people's cigarettes! there should be a defined pace for smokers and non smokers as weel as goo ventilation so that non mokes are able to enjoy their meal properly!!!
What's next. Health police in the supermarket telling us we can't buy chocolate and crisps?
As a smoker I actually believe that people have the right to a smoke free atmosphere if they want it.
So why not have smoking and non smoking pubs, clubs and restuarants? It's called CHOICE and that's what this nanny state is increasingly taking away from us.
Local and central government should stop legislating on people's lifestyles and start improving the quality of our lives. How about increasing the crime detection rate for starters? Or would that require effort, commitment and a bit of hard work.
So Mr. karney's concerned about the effects smoking has on peoples' health. Fine, I'll be looking forward to a ban on motor vehicles and factories then.
Oh and while we're at it; Mr. Blair, how about a ban on invading other peoples' countries as a world wide health improvement scheme.
To ban a legal substance, to my mind is wrong. Why not go the whole hog and make smoking illegal? I know why, it generates too much revenue. It far out weighs the health care costs. So, we will create in fact a farse act.
I WOULD LOVE A SMOKING BAN IN PUBS AND RESTAURANTS. I AM SICK OF SMELLING OF SMOKE, WAKING UP WITH A SORE THROAT AND HAVING MY MEALS RUINED BY INCONSIDERATE SMOKERS.
I actually have no objection to smoking in bars - although i am not a smoker myself the vast majority of my friends are and i have become used to it. What i do object to, however, aside from the smell of stale smoke on your clothes the next day is the fantastic arrogance of smokers who believe that their right to choose is being taken away. Do non-smokers have a choice whether or not they breathe in your blue toxic fumes? It's a stupid, ignorant argument made by people who are addicted to a stick.
What is it with these left wing lunatics that always feel they have to control people by taking away their rights. Why not let the landlord/lady deside if he/she wants to ban smoking in their own pubs, after all it is their own business and the goverment should stay out of it, this is called free enterprise.
I am a non smoker and can't stand the smell of cigarettes but I am sick to death of these anti smoking fanatics.
PS has anyboby known sombody that has died from passive smoking??
Isn't it about time councils did what they were paid for, ie to ensure clean streets, reliable transport and work with the police to cut vandalism and juvenile crime. These are what matters, not some hapless person enjoying a smoke in a local pub!
Our entire town and county just went smoke free in every public building except for long term old age homes.It was a hard fought campaign but in the long run it will be worth it when the health costs of smoking and second hand smoke begin to decrease.As well the cost of cigarettes has significantly increased to almost 3 pounds so it is getting too expensive a habit to keep up.
As a city centre resturant manager, i spend 10 hours daily breathing other peoples smoke. My restaurant is fully ventilated and spaceous but still engulfed in smoke. Whilst i await for the government/city council to enorce a ban i am forced to daily poison myself. People ask why i don't simply work in an office, and i reply that i love my job, and the industry. In the meantime guys, don't complain when i increase the air conditioning level... it may get cold!
why have the dictators in Manchester city council not done a survey in the pubs, if you knock on 10 doors to ask an opinion on a smoking ban in pubs there would probably only 1 or 2 of those people who actually use pubs, therefore the other 8 people will have an influence on a decision that in no way effects them, it is just another way to keep the population in front of the tv and brainwash them, it will certainly close a lot of pubs