ON 29 March, in accordance with Article 8 of the World Health Assembly's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, a ban on smoking in all enclosed places of work, including pubs and restaurants, was introduced in the Republic of Ireland. After 1 month, the Office of Tobacco Control found that 97% of premises inspected nationally were compliant with the smoke-free law. This compliance rate is similar to, or higher than, that achieved in California and New York. How has this come about — in anarchic Ireland of all places?
Firstly, a high level of knowledge and understanding about the reasons for the ban were critical to ensuring compliance. The year of often heated debate — in newspapers, on television, on national and local radio, through expert discussions and phone-ins — meant that no one in the Republic of Ireland remained ignorant of the impending ban, that everyone had an opinion, and that popular support strengthened over the course of the debate as people began to perceive the self-serving nature of the hospitality industry's economic arguments. The strident arguments of the hospitality industry were partially responsible for driving the debate. But the debate was also driven by a carefully managed communications campaign. Non-governmental organisations and government departments used the same few, simple, consistent messages: passive smoking causes serious harm to health, workplace smoking is a health and safety issue, and ventilation does not work.
The high level of knowledge achieved by the communic-ation campaign was indicated by a poll in December 2003, 11 months after the announcement of the ban (and 3 months before the ban came into force). Some 84% of the population knew not only that the ban was coming in, but also that …