by Amber N. Johns

The Board of Health voted in a hearing July 8 to give the Tír na nÓg, an Irish pub in Union Square, one month to prove it has effectively banned customers from smoking.

“We had received a series of complaints against the Tír na nÓg. Every time there is a complaint against an establishment, we invariably attempt to have unannounced inspections. The Tír na nÓg was in violation every time,” said Cesar Pungirum of the Five City Tobacco Control Collaborative.

Pungirum, who will continue to monitor the bar closely, said that violations carry the possibility of a Board of Health hearing, which could involve the suspension of food permits. The bar requires a valid food permit to continue serving alcohol.

At the hearing, Pungirum said, “If the board does suspend Tír na nÓg’s food permit, technically, they could be closed down for violation.”

Each violation calls for a two-day suspension penalty. “We waited until the third violation before we considered this penalty,” Pungirum said. The bar has paid $350 in fines since the smoking ban came into effect in October.

Robert Elliott and Feargal O’Toole, owners of the Tír na nÓg, which means “land of eternal youth” in Gaelic, allowed patrons to start smoking again in the winter. They said ignoring the ban was both a rebellion and an attempt to maintain business.

“It was a little bit of civil disobedience,” said O’Toole.

Elliott said that it did not take long for the customers to realize that smoking was allowed in the pub despite the ban.

“It took about 3 weeks for the word to get out and people came back,” O’Toole said.

“It wasn’t really new people, though. It was more like we got the old crowd back,” Elliott said.

O’Toole said that when the ban went into effect it decreased business by 38 to 39 percent.

“There were people coming in, and they’ve been drinking here since we opened up, and they’d sit in here and drink their scotch and sodas and run a $70 tab. After October, it became a $30 tab because they’d be outside the whole time. Even the non-smokers would be outside because they wanted to have conversations,” said O’Toole.

“Sometimes I’d turn around and say, ‘Where are all the people?’ They’d all be outside,” he said.

“Not to mention the heating bill practically doubles because people are going in and out so much,” said Elliott.

The bar was forced to cut their live music from seven nights a week to four, Elliott said, because nobody was coming. Elliott’s band, The Johnny Come Latelies, frequently plays there.

The owners’ lawyer, Robert L. Allen, said the bar also had a difficult time complying with the ban because of their regular customers.

O’Toole said that most of his customers are working class people who enjoy relaxing with a pint of beer and a cigarette.

He said he prefers not to send his customers out into the street to smoke, especially in the winter. “I’d rather keep them in here.”

Customers at the Tír na nÓg who felt bad that the bar was fined put out a jar to collect donations.

“The jar was put out by some loyal smoking and non-smoking customers. I think people knew we got fined and they wanted to help pay towards it,” O’Toole said. All of the money was donated to RESPOND, Inc. in Union Square, a non-profit organization working to end domestic violence.

Elliott said they wanted to continue to allow their customers to smoke until the statewide smoking ban came into effect July 5.

O’Toole said they are now willing to comply with the ban. “Now that it’s a statewide ban, it’s a level playing field.”

Like Elliott and O’Toole, some of the Somerville representatives and senators who voted in favor of the statewide ban feel that it will put bars across the state at the same level.

“Bars in other towns were at an unfair advantage. I think it’s good that there not be unfair competition between businesses in different towns,” said State Rep. Patricia D. Jehleh, D-Somerville.

“I am very concerned about patrons going elsewhere and Somerville businesses losing out,” said State Rep. Vincent P. Ciampa, D-Somerville.

State Rep. Timothy J. Toomey Jr., D-Somerville, said that, along with insuring that the city’s businesses are on equal ground with other businesses, his decision was a personal one. “It allows myself and other individuals to go to clubs and restaurants we weren’t able to go to due to secondhand smoke.”

State Sen. Charles E. Shannon, D-Somerville, voted to ratify an amendment that would exempt smaller businesses that sell little or no food from the ban. “Places like that shouldn’t be under the jurisdiction of the ban,” he said.

Board member Babette Mello was doubtful that the bar would be compliant. She said she had a hard time believing that, given their record, the owners would now adhere to the law. “I just don’t buy it,” she said.
Mello said the Tír na nÓg, even though it was struggling, had a responsibility to the obey the law. “Given the fact that there was a smoking ban in Somerville they needed to be compliant.”

Board member Cecilia Sosa-Patterson said she did not think the board should shut the bar down. “Personally, I do not feel inclined to do this.” Sosa-Patterson said she would have preferred if the owners of the bar had approached the board with their concerns about the loss of business. She said that building a relationship between the board and the bar would have left her with a better feeling about the situation.

Although Elliott and O’Toole would prefer not to have a ban at all, they are satisfied with the outcome of the Board of Health meeting. “The Board of Health knows exactly where I stand on the subject, but they were very fair to us at the meeting. We were definitely vocal against it, and they evidently didn’t use that against us,” said O’Toole.

“Perhaps in hindsight they did the wrong thing, but I’m happy the board gave them the opportunity to show them that they can do this,” said Allen, the owners’ lawyer.

O’Toole said he is hopeful that the statewide smoking ban will not be detrimental to business, and result in people smoking less.

“The liquor industry has gone through a lot in this country,” he said. “If it survived prohibition, it will survive the smoking ban.”