Trade fury over smoke ban slur
An Irish licensees' leader claims his views have been misrepresented by UK officials seeking a smoking ban.
Tadg O'Sullivan, chief executive of the Vintners' Federation of Ireland (VFI), has accused Brenda Fullard in the government's North West office of making remarks typical of an "anti-smoking zealot", claiming she misquoted him during discussions with the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA).
He said Ms Fullard, regional tobacco policy manager in the North West, used parts of a VFI news release in an email to say there has been no downturn in trade due to a smoking ban. When the email was leaked, Mr O'Sullivan, outraged by what he saw as a misinterpretation, wrote a detailed response to Ms Fullard, the BBPA and the health department.
He said: "Trade in Ireland has fallen 15 to 25 per cent since the introduction of the ban and we estimate that 2,000 jobs have been lost.
"My office is inundated with calls from rural publicans who are withdrawing money from private pension funds to pay bills as a consequence of the ban and it is a calculated insult for you to quote a responsible news release so totally out of context and twist its meaning in order to distort the truth."
When asked by The Publican about the comments in her email, Ms Fullard said: "My concerns are only for the people who work in the hospitality trade. I have visited Ireland and met its health minister Micheál Martin and have no firm evidence that a ban affects trade. We have a moral right to protect people and saving lives is more important than profit."
This view is one that concerns Lee Le Clercq, regional secretary for the BBPA North West office."One expects lobbying organisations such as ASH to be single-minded but there is a worrying tendency nowadays for public authorities to become equally evangelistic in both tone and practice," he said.
Tony Payne, chief executive of the Federation of Licensed Victuallers' Associations, has been in discussions with the Irish trade bodies and shares the industry's concerns over the damaging effects a ban would have on trade.
"All we're looking for is compromise," he said. "Too many people involved in this debate have a blinkered outlook."
