Two pubs in the Cork area have given a written undertaking to the Southern Health Board that they will comply with the smoking ban after the authority threatened them with High Court action if they did not do so by this afternoon.
The board said this evening it had received undertakings from the proprietors of a pub on the south side of Cork city and one in Cobh that they would comply with all the provisions of the Public Health and Tobacco Acts 2002 and 2004.
The health board refused to confirm the names of the premises involved to ireland.com.
In a statement, the SHB said it wished to make clear to publicans and the general public that "serious consequences" that would follow in the event of the law being flouted. It said it would draw on all the powers of the High Court, including injunctive proceedings where necessary and would initiate criminal prosecutions in respect of all premises that flout the law.
The board's inspectors are regularly visiting licensed premises to ensure compliance, the SHB said.
Pubs and other premises face fines of up to €24,000 if they are found to be non-compliant with the smoking regulations on four occasions. Fines of up to €6,000 may result from each episode where the law is found to be breached.
This morning, the SHB threatened to take High Court injunctions against the two pubs if they failed to give written undertakings by 4 p.m. that they would desist in allowing breaches of the smoking ban.
In a statement earlier, the SHB said the premises had also been advised that in addition to the application to the High Court, the health board reserved the right to take criminal prosecutions and to object to the renewal of their licences before the courts. It also warned customers they could be prosecuted for flouting the ban.
The health board said it was also investigating a number of other premises in its area for breaches of the smoking ban. "The SHB will vigorously pursue any employers that are openly flouting the law. There is widespread public support for the smoking ban and the SHB has a duty to uphold the law.
"The level of compliance with the smoking ban by employers in the SHB area, has, to date, been very high; Figures issued by the Office of Tobacco Control (OTC) on May 31st 2004 reported 98 per cent of premises inspected in the SHB area were found to be compliant with the law - above the national average of 97 per cent," the board said.
Fibber Magees pub in Galway said yesterday it would end its defiance of the ban, which received massive publicity earlier this week. The owners of the pub were forced to back down after the Attorney General wrote to them and signalled his intention to take High Court action yesterday on the instructions of the Government.
The owner of Fibber Magees, Mr Ronan Lawless, appeared before Spiddal District Court in Galway this morning in relation to applications for special exemptions for one of his other pubs, Foxe's. The exemptions he sought, which had previously been revoked by the judge when it emerged Mr Lawless was flouting the anti-smoking laws, were granted after he gave an undertaking he would comply with the ban.
Mr Lawless has closed Fibber Magee's pending a legal challenge to the smoking legislation.
The Taoiseach said yesterday that whether the publicans decided to take legal action against the ban was a matter for themselves, but they have fully and absolutely backed down on defying the anti-smoking laws. Mr Ahern said the Government was not prepared to stand by and see people disobey the law.