An Irish publican became the first bar owner in the country on Tuesday to be successfully prosecuted for breaking the government's pioneering smoking ban, court officials said.
Padraig Folan, owner of the Ti Hanrai pub in the village of Lettermore in the far west of Ireland, was fined 1,200 euros ($1,500) and ordered to pay 500 euros in costs for failing to enforce the ban.
Ireland introduced the law in March, becoming the first country in the world to ban smoking in all pubs, bars, restaurants and workplaces nation-wide.