The Western Health Board (WHB) said tonight it may seek a High Court injunction later this week against the proprietors of Fibber Magees pub in Galway over their decision to challenge the workplace smoking ban.
The board said in a statement tonight it had served a formal notice on the two proprietors of the Eyre Square pub, Mr Ciarán Levanzin and Mr Ronan Lawless, giving them until 4.00 p.m. tomorrow to halt the breaches of the Public Health (Tobacco) Act 2004.
If they fail to comply, the WHB said it would make an application to the High Court for an injunction restraining them. The health board also said it had served two warnings on the proprietors in the past 36 hours.
The two men risk fines of up to €3,000 for each breach of the smoking regulations.
The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, earlier re-iterated that he has no intention of reviewing the smoking ban that the Galway publicans will be dealt with using the full force of available legislation.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio this lunchtime, Mr Martin said: "You can take it from me there will be no-holds barred in terms of taking this head on and upholding the law. Every single legal avenue that is open to the health board will be used to ensure that this challenge to the smoking law is defeated."
Mr Martin said that three months after the smoking ban has been introduced there is no concrete evidence that business in public houses has been adversely affected and he pointed to the continuing high valuation of pubs as one barometer of this.
Fibber Magee's co-owner Mr Ronan Lawless has claimed his business was down by 67 per cent since the introduction of the ban, leaving him with little choice but to defy it.
However, Mr Martin insisted there was a clear downward trend of drink consumption amongst the Irish population prior to the introduction of the ban as evidenced by figures released earlier this week.
The Vintners' Federation of Ireland (VFI) has refused to publicly support the owners of Fibber Magee's but has called for the regulations to be amended to relieve hardship on its members. The VFI says that it cannot condone anyone breaking the law and would not encourage members to do so.
VFI President Mr Seamus O'Donoghue said that while the organisation doesn't support this behaviour, it appreciates the frustration of its members whose businesses have been impacted since the introduction of the ban.
"Since the introduction of the smoking ban, pubs around the country have suffered an average drop in sales of 15 to 25 per cent. Half the country's pubs have a turnover of €3,600, with some bringing in just €1,500 a week. This is a massive loss that many rural pubs cannot continue to sustain," said Mr O'Donoghue.
"Members have real and justified fears for the futures of their businesses and for their staff. A workable compromise needs to be considered to ensure the survival of the rural Irish pub," Mr O'Donoghue added.
A second publican, Mr Danny Brogan of Connie Doolan's pub in Cobh, Co Cork announced this afternoon he had also decided to break the ban. He said he had been watching his business go down the drain since the ban was introduced. "All we want is a compromise so the public can make their own decisions," Mr Brogan said. "To me, it's not breaking the law, it's survival."