{"id":19766,"date":"2017-09-27T11:50:16","date_gmt":"2017-09-27T11:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/?p=19766"},"modified":"2017-09-27T11:50:34","modified_gmt":"2017-09-27T11:50:34","slug":"uls-smoking-restrictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/index.php\/uls-smoking-restrictions\/","title":{"rendered":"UL’s Smoking Restrictions"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Niamh Delmer<\/h5>\n

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In 2004, the Irish government introduced a ban on smoking in the workplace. 13 years later, the University of Limerick have decided to implement a similar restriction on smoking throughout the university campus.
\nThe original plan was to introduce a complete smoking ban throughout the whole campus in week one of this semester. Dr. Des Fitzgerald, President of UL, spoke to the Students\u2019 Union over summer in search of the opinions of the students of UL on the topic. However, according to Jack Shelly, President of ULSU, this was not possible while students were away on summer break. Due to this, it was decided to implement no-smoking zones across campus for the first semester in hopes of a complete ban being introduced by second semester.
\nSince the announcement of the smoking restriction being introduced across campus, there have been many mixed reviews. Some students seem to be more than dissatisfied with the new changes with one student describing it as \u201cwhat a joke\u201d on the Student\u2019s Union Facebook page. However, there are many students and staff of UL who are more than willing to embrace the ban clearly identifying the benefits that will follow suit.
\nSpeaking to Jack Shelly, President of UL\u2019s Students\u2019 Union, he explained, \u201cI\u2019d definitely be in favour of a healthier campus and I can see the benefits of it. Anything that would improve the health of students and staff on campus I\u2019d be in favour of\u2026as for any criticisms that we are getting, we\u2019re trying to say to them that this is here just to promote the health of the students.\u201d
\nThe implementation of the new ban is something many students and staff have been wondering about. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to be policed – there\u2019s not going to be fines given out. It\u2019s going to be \u2018we\u2019d rather you not smoke here\u2019 than \u2018smoking is completely prohibited\u2019. It\u2019s going to be a case of hoping that people comply with it\u201d, Shelly disclosed.
\nThe SU president holds great confidence in the success of the new ban despite some criticisms that may have been received. He reveals he believes that simply by placing signs around smoke-free zones rather than strictly policing the ban will have a good effect on students as \u201conce there are signs up and once it\u2019s not allowed, people are going to be afraid of what other people think of them. So, if they\u2019re smoking they\u2019re going to be looking at people thinking \u2018they\u2019re looking at me thinking what\u2019s this lad doing smoking\u2019\u2026I think that\u2019s the way it\u2019ll work like people will be conscious of what other people think and they\u2019re not going to do it.\u201d
\nAlluding to the ban of smoking in the workplace introduced in 2004, Shelly reminded us that there were huge criticisms of such a ban at that time and now, to think of smoking inside a public building is a crazy thought to all of us and he believes the same will happen for UL. \u201cPeople say it\u2019s not going to work but I think it will, it\u2019s just going to take time. Like people said that smoking in restaurants and bars – up to that point everyone was just so used to it being the norm – they said it\u2019s not going to work but if you think back on it now, we think it\u2019s crazy – the idea that people would ever smoke inside a restaurant or a bar.\u201d
\nThere are many students in agreement with the SU President including Hannah Rabbitte, a second year student studying PE and Irish teaching. Hannah explains, \u201cI think the idea of no smoking on campus is great because it takes into consideration the students who don\u2019t smoke. It makes a much nicer and healthier environment for the students.\u201d
\nAnother second year student, Darren Faul made the point that a lot of college students are \u201csocial smokers who smoke because one or two of their friends do and they don\u2019t want to miss out on the craic in the smoking area\u201d. Darren suggested that restricting smoking across campus will discourage social smoking, thus, reducing the amount of university students smoking.
\nDespite any criticisms it may have received, it is clear the smoking ban is being implemented with the health of the students and staff of UL at the forefront of the minds of those involved. UL is set to join many universities, including over a thousand in the U.S. in having a successfully smoke-free campus and thus, a healthier staff and student body. <\/p>\n

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By Niamh Delmer In 2004, the Irish government introduced a ban on smoking in the workplace. 13 years later, the University of Limerick have decided to implement a similar restriction on smoking throughout the university campus. The original plan was to introduce a complete smoking ban throughout the whole campus in week one of this […]<\/p>\n

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