Ireland’s smoking ban 20 years on: how an unheralded civil servant triumphed against big tobacco

When the ban came into force on 29 March 2004 many believed it would not hold, but it was adopted and adhered to universally. Photograph: Paul McErlane/REUTERS

Exactly 20 years ago an Irish civil servant named Tom Power won a remarkable battle against the tobacco industry when Ireland enacted the world’s first ban on smoking in bars, restaurants and workplaces.

TV crews from Japan, the US and elsewhere flocked to Dublin to record the events of 29 March 2004. No one knew what would happen. Would smokers revolt? Would pubs flout the law? Would a bold experiment go up in smoke?