Ireland has experienced its first "smoke rage" incident after banning smoking in bars and restaurants.
A customer in the Speaker Connolly pub in North Dublin last weekend apparently "went berserk" when a barman refused to serve him unless he put out his cigarette.
A fight ensured and the man and his companion were ejected from the pub and later arrested by police.
The leader of the Irish opposition also sacked his justice spokesman on Thursday after he smoked three cigarettes in the parliamentary bar.
Takings in pubs have dropped since the ban but this has been partly offset by a rise in off-sales. Meanwhile, some publicans in remote areas of Ireland have vowed not to enforce the law at all.
Financial Times 10/04/04 page 7 (Magazine)
The Times 10/04/04 page 14
