DUBLIN, Ireland, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Pubs don't come much smokier than Mulligan's, a family-run watering hole that dates back to 1792, counts James Joyce and J.F Kennedy as past clients and is reputed to serve the best Guinness in Dublin.
The ceilings are stained with nicotine, the ashtrays are overflowing and plumes of smoke rise up from regulars downing pints of stout at low wooden tables.
But from February, when a national smoking ban in work places takes effect, drinkers caught lighting up in the mahogony-panelled bar will be ejected and publicans refusing to enforce the measure could be fined over $2,000 or thrown in jail.
The draconian measure is backed by over two-thirds of Irish people, but not by many of the regulars in Mulligan's.
Enveloped in a cloud of smoke and clutching a glass of Ireland's most famous export, Leslie -- a 54-year-old builder with the mannerisms of a left-bank philosopher -- says: "This is not America. Over here it's part of our culture to drink and smoke."
He is not kidding. There are over 700 pubs in the city center alone and although the trend is towards brighter, less smoky bars, most are dimly lit drinking dens like Mulligan's.
Leslie, who admits smoking is a "nasty habit," wonders how pub-owners will enforce the ban. "I think there will be a lot of trouble in the bars. It could get nasty when they try and throw out people smoking."
Most publicans share the views of regulars like Lundy. The Vintners Federation of Ireland says the restriction, which will also apply to nightclubs and restaurants but not to hotels, prisons or nursing homes, is "unworkable, untenable and unenforceable" and will lead to over 3,000 job losses.
But Gary Cusack, the 33-year old manager of Mulligan's who has already outlawed mobile phones from his pub, sees no problem with the measure.
"Rules are there for the majority, not the minority," says the third-generation pub-owner. "Anyway, people's fondness for drink outweighs their fondness for cigarettes."
Cusack, who reckons it will take two to three years to get the smell of smoke out of his pub, believes people will adapt to the law in the same way they adapted to previous bans on smoking in cinemas, trains and planes. Besides, those desperate for a drag can always pop outside for a puff, he adds.
This argument does not wash with Tom Lundy, a film-set painter who sees smoking in pubs as a "fundamental right."
"It's OK to stand outside if you are in Miami when it's 90 degrees, but try doing that in Dublin in the freezing cold."
Some Dublin bars have already started building heated terraces to accommodate desperate smokers, but smaller establishments in the country -- which do not have the space or money for such luxuries -- have vowed to ignore the law.
"God help the fellas from the Department of Health who have to enforce the ban," says Lundy, tucking into his second pint of Guinness before lunch.
Sitting in his office across the street from Mulligan's, junior health minister Brian Lenihan swats aside such concerns.
"Some argue the government is being autocratic, that we are becoming a nanny-state. On the other hand, the scientific evidence is so conclusive that no amount of spinning by the tobacco industry can obscure the fact that lung cancer is the direct consequence of exposure to cigarette smoke."
According to the health ministry, 7,000 people die every year due to smoking related diseases, costing the Irish taxpayer over $1 billion. But it is the effects on passive smokers that forced the center-right government to act.
A study by the health and safety authority found non-smoking workers regularly exposed to smoke faced a 30 percent greater risk of heart disease and their risk of developing lung cancer was 90 times that of falling victim to cancer from asbestos in buildings.
Lenihan admits he originally had doubts about the ban but says he is encouraged by the number of people who say they will give up smoking as a result of the measure.
"The pub is such a central part of Irish life -- in some villages it's the only social outlet -- that if you don't legislate you inflict the smoke of the minority on the respiratory systems of the majority."
New York, California and Norway have already imposed similar smoking bans, but Ireland will become the first EU country to stub out cigarettes in all workplaces when the law comes into effect in late February.
Officials in Brussels will be keeping a close eye on the experiment to see if it should be applied across the 15-member bloc. EU Health Commissioner David Byrne, who also hails from the 'Emerald Isle,' has made it clear he favors such a move, but the chances of countries like Italy, Greece or France agreeing to such a law appear slim.
In the end, lifestyle changes from below are more likely to change people's habits than edicts from above. In the center of Dublin lighting up is frowned upon in many of the trendy new restaurants that have sprouted up in recent years and young hipsters are now just as likely to be found sipping frappucinos in bright-airy cafes as quaffing pints of stout in smoky pubs.
For Mulligan's regulars like Lundy, who sees smoking as a "release," the ban means the end of a way of life. "I like the smell of smoke in pubs," he says, drawing on his cigarette.
Pub-owner Cusack replies: "You'll be able to taste the beer without the smoke." For a nation of drinkers that places a high value on a perfect pint of stout, it is an argument even chain-smokers would find hard to quibble with.
