NI pubs not ready for ban

Severe delays over planning applications means many of Northern Ireland's pubs are not ready for the smoking ban, a trade leader has warned.

With just a week until the ban arrives, many pubs have been forced to erect smoking shelters and awnings without receiving permission from the authorities.

"It's a silly situation with so little time to go," said Nicola Carruthers, chief executive of the Federation of the Retail Licensed Trade Northern Ireland. "We've had horrendous delays over planning, but we just hope the police and local authorities will turn a blind eye because legally a lot of pubs won't be ready."

Carruthers said that even standard planning applications were taking around 18 to 24 months, due to a huge backlog.

Licensee's problems have been exacerbated by the delay in the publication of the final smoke ban regulations, which were only published last month.

Carruthers also highlighted the problem of pubs gaining permission to have tables and chairs on pavements, which at the moment is a central government decision.

She added that wet sales would "undoubtedly suffer" from the ban.

On a more positive note, she predicted that enforcement would not be an issue as it would be "self-policing".

Wilson McArthur, licensee at the Mountview Tavern, in Belfast, said he was "very uncertain" about the effect on his trade. "With the nice weather, business should not be too badly affected initially, but the winter will be the real test," he said.

But Stephen Magorrian, managing director of pubco Botanic Inns, which owns 13 on-trade outlets in Northern Ireland, is more upbeat.

"We are prepared enough," he said. "We are trying to focus on the positive and make our pubs more family friendly and improving our childrens' menus. You have to be positive."

A Department of Environment Northern Ireland spokeswoman said: "We do take breaches of planning control seriously and although building without planning permission is not an offence, it is carried out at the developer's own risk. We will seek to remedy any breach of planning control."