If you get something going on chewing gum I’ll be minded to tell the story of how I felt when I found Grace (19 months) with a piece of chewed gum in her mouth. In case there is any ambiguity, the gum had been in at least one person’s mouth before Grace put it in her’s.

Seat belts? I like that law. Without it, I would have to pay more for the health service. It saves me money. If only people who got injured in their car had to pay the full cost of their accidents…

But we all know that society takes the bulk of the costs and redistributes it through a system of collective taxation. People who don’t belt up, and then have an injury as a result, pay a fraction of the full cost: isn’t that right?

Wouldn’t your way of thinking, if implemented in full, require a radical transformation of the whole system of allocating and distributing costs in society? That’s not a conclusive argument against what you are advocating, I realise.

The weather in Cork today is simply wonderful: cold, bright and dry. I should be outside.

I hate cigarette smoke. But as a pipe smoker, it would be hypocritical of me to try to outlaw it. I hate littering of any kind. Cigarette butts are a nasty example, but I would say that chewing gum is worse. At least butts rapidly bio-degrade. Cigarette butts are also dangerous, as people are effectively flicking fire around at random. How many forest fires are caused by random cigarette butts?

As a smoker, I have always been aware of other people. If I am a guest in someone’s house, I don’t light up unless invited. If I have a guest in my house I usually ask permission [yes - in my own house]. I would never smoke in any place where people are eating. I never did. Even now, in the open, I am aware of wind direction and I like to think I am considerate.

Where we differ is in the application of laws. I am vehemently opposed to ‘nanny state’ laws. ‘Police state’ would be nearer the mark. For example, why have we a law obliging us to wear seat belts in cars? I know they save lives, and I never drive without one on. But if people are stupid enough to drive without them, then they should take the consequences. We should not have laws to protect ourselves. We should have education and common sense.

And where would it end? There are many things I find highly offensive in public. Some of them are illegal, but some aren’t. Spitting? Urinating? Umbrellas that poke me in the eye? People yakking in mobile phones? People yelling at each other? Personal stereos? The list is endless, and in some cases they are personal distastes.

To go off track a bit, why not make alcohol illegal? It causes far more damage to society. Look at the alcoholism, the damage to health, families and work. It causes car smashes. It causes violent aggression, and in some cases murder. It causes poverty. And it causes a lot of [non bio-degradable] litter as my garden will testify. So why pick on cigarettes?

You are also right to sense that I favour a ban on all cigarette smoking in public. For me, this is a long term aspiration, unlikely to be realised in Ireland in my lifetime. But I expect it to happen before there will be a “United Ireland”.

I guess it’ll happen in Grace’s lifetime but, considering the amount of uninhabited land on the island, it may never happen in rural areas. Perhaps it would be possible to zone the country and designate urban zones as no-cigarette-smoking-in-public areas?

Unenforceable laws clutter statute books, so I see no point in advocating supporting legislation to ban such smoking in all public places. Again you are right to chide me for not thinking hard enough, especially about “quiet country walks”. Mind you, I would deprive everyone of the right to smoke cigarettes, even in the countryside, if I could think of a way of getting away with it. I simply don’t trust people to carry away the litter from their unfortunate habit. And I’m afraid I really dislike the sight of butts, and won’t sign up for aversion therapy.

Where I most part company with you is over what you label “paranoia”. Never being able to go into a pub without straining to see through the smoke, without having to breath through my mouth… Never being able to say “actually I would prefer if you didn’t light up that cigarette…”

You know how the world is so dominated by right handed people that it is hard to see how right-centred everything is? That’s how I found the world before the tide turned against cigarette smoking: it would be hard to exaggerate how dominant smoking culture was. I used to feel it would be bad mannered to say what I thought about the habit. And in many other arenas, I have been fairly assertive.

These days I wouldn’t go to someone’s house if I thought it was going to smell of stale cigarette smoke or if there were going to be ashtrays full of butts anywhere in the house: I’d arrange to meet them in an Irish pub.

I used the word “revenge” because I feel this gradual constriction on cigarette smokers is a thinly disguised, ever-ratcheting, form of slow torture for the poor addict. I imagine some addicts finding it hard to accept. But I remember how I never met a considerate smoker, never met one who simply didn’t light up, who simply never asked if it was OK to smoke. Those were long years.

Of course, I come at this from the angle that I mainly dislike the look, the smell and the residue of cigarette smoking. For me, it is a bonus that cigarettes have been shown to cause cancer which is a socially expensive consequence. Even if it turned out to be untrue that smoking cigarettes cause cancer, I’d still want the habit banned.

Unfortunately, the law is a necessary act. No amount of exhortation would persuade cigarette smokers to considently consider those who don’t smoke. The Irish, who go abroad on their holidays to countries where such smoking is legal, revert to their previous behaviour and light up in restaurants blowing smoke on top of the food of others. I’ve seen them and I have don’t nothing about it. I am one of those who needs the law to protect me. I am amazed how compliant cigarette smokers have proved to be. Perhaps inside every smoker, there lurks a person who yearns for a firm hand…

Enough, enough I have trespassed on your blog for too long.

The remark about putting that in your pipe and smoking it was a recollection of something my father, a pipesmoker, used to say often about many things.
It wasn’t a serious comment, more of a quip.

I’m surprised and pleased that you took the trouble to respond to what I said. But I should have known to expect something different from you. Your blog is something else.

I would hate to be a non-smoker in an office full of smokers all day.

However, I think that there should be ’smoking rooms’ in office blocks, just as there should be non-smoking areas in pubs.

As a smoker, I respect the rights of non-smokers, but I completely agree that the governments should keep their noses out of it.

And those of you that support the smoking ban … just wait until the politicians target YOUR favourite vice …

I would just like to take a few minutes and thank everyone who smokes tobacco. People just don’t understand how much hard work is put into the sale and marketing of these deadly products. It must be a tough sell. I’ve heard of selling ice to an …

Firstly, if you read my post [first sentence para 5] you will see that I am not in favour of smoking. I wish the damn things had never been introduced. I am vehemently opposed to young people starting, and that is why I posted the piece. I believe it will exacerbate the situation.

Next, you launch into a tirade against all smokers as if we carry some deadly disease. You advocate the banning of smoking in all open spaces? Why? Would you have someone arrested who was smoking a fag on the other side of the street? Would you begrudge someone having a smoke on a quiet country walk? You talk as if all smokers were out to get you ["Hey! There's Omani! Let's go blow smoke in his face"]. You talk about ‘revenge’?? You say “people had to put up with people smoking all over them for ages”? This is bordering on paranoia.

I agree that someone smoking [say] on a crowded bus or train or in an enclosed room can be an irritation and very inconsiderate. That is why I have no objection to the ban in public transport etc. If I have visitors in my house I usually ask their permission before lighting up. I ask permission in my own house!. I would class myself as a considerate smoker and most smokers are like me.

With regard to your comments on butts, I totally agree. They are an untidy mess. Dropping a cigarette butt is the same as dropping any other litter. There are existing litter laws, so that is already covered. However I would point out that in my opinion, chewing gum is a much worse source of litter, but you don’t mention that?

Finally – a small point but one that is irritating me.
You insist on smugly using the terms ‘addict’ and ‘drug addict’. Semantically you are correct, but those terms have modern connotations which I find offensive. Would you class all people with dependencies as ‘addicts’? The people who are on regular prescribed medicine? Are they ‘drug addicts’?

I am unclear as to your final “all I expect you to do is put this in your pipe and smoke it? Are you accusing me of being unable to defend my arguments?

I wish I could have bought single cigarettes or packs of 10 in Canada all of those times I was broke.