yeah was thinkin that myself earlier, thats why i added my wee post on here too... maybe we've ran out of discussions for the moment?

Well.....throw out an ol' topic then and let the debates commence!

I agree I have not been on these forums for a while now, and when you do come back to them it is all the same talk.The last time I was on because I shared an opinion I was set upon obviously by a few close buddies with all the same opions and ideas.(how boring)

eat the corn out of my s**te discuss.

what a twat is that all you have to say how interesting but if all you want to do is talk about your s**te well then my freind you have f**king way too much time on your hands.Outta here F**k this site!

Relax will you. If it wasn't for Dirty's contributions to this site it would pile of burning s**te site..

slick ya prick!

ah yes at last - a heated debate as Mrs Merton would have it... dirty, you're a big solid lad and i guess there's more than corn to worry about so i'll give that particular pastime a wide berth for now. ok, i have a topic: how will anti-smoking laws affect gigs in this town? will punters be six-deep outside the hub/whelans/dorans havin a smoke while the band plays to bar staff who are also gasping for a pull? or will sales of nicorette go through the roof?

Much respect to John for bringing this up. Frankly I was bored with this discussion board 'cos all it was seemingly, people logging on to advertise their own bands/gigs or whatever. With the best of respect to these bands, it's not very "discussional" and it's been that way for months. Anyway John, the anti-smoking thing. I personally don't think it's going to take off, particularly in such a drinking culture as ours. The guards have already said that they're not getting involved in complaints about it (who can blame them really?) Greedy promoters who are constantly charging extortionist prices to gigs (a popular discussion on this board actually) are not going to turn fans away from venues by telling them they can't smoke. They're already robbing us blind, they're not going to let that get in their way. On the other side of the coin, some would say that places like Vicar Street have already enforced this rule to some extent, (for example smoking wasn't permitted in the audience area at the Neil Young or Nick Cave gigs), but do you really think that's going to happen at every gig venue in town? I don't think so. Some bars are already handing out voting forms for alternatives to the ban (more ventilation etc)but that's as far as it will go in my view. At the end of the day, I reckon this ban is nothing more than a smokescreen to cover up the fact that our minister has failed to produce a decent health system in this country. Hopefully gigs won't be badly affected by this and I don't think they will. Q2

As a compulsive smoker that has tried to give up a million times (I'm doing accupuncture next can you believe..?!) - I have to say I'm dreading the ban and yet bizarrely welcome it at the same time. I don't like the fact that I smoke, in fact I'd say i'm ashamed of it most of the time, but I'm hopelessly addicted - and struggling with it constantly - maybe an enforced ban would help me get there??...I don't know. But I'd expect the government to be doing something to help those addicts that are willing to give up, if they are going to take our 'choice' away. After all we are grown adults and should have the 'choice'. It amazes me how unaware the government seems to be of how highly addictive it is....actually I don't believe for a second that they don't know...at the end of the day they make money from it - why don't they ban it altogether?? The truth beknown I've acted as sneakily as a junkie to get my 'fix' when i've had to...and know I'm going to be in serious 'cold turkey' when the ban does come in but I hate being a smoker and don't feel I smoke out of choice half the time...it is a love/hate relationship. I know to a non-smoker that sounds pathetic but there you go. I resent the fact that they are talking about doing this with no real support for those it will affect, but I do have to agree that those working in that environment, i.e. bar staff, have a right to have their health protected. I don't know if installing ventilation equipment would be adequate?

Welcome back John & thanks for bringing back the "Dicussion" Like dromed, I'm a smoker who dreads the idea but would like to use it as an incentive to give up. Personally, I can see it being implemented as easily down the country as it might be in the city. The Gards don't have the resources or the interest to enforce it. In the City, your average bouncer will probably throw you out if you light up. Down the country, the owner of a family run Pub is not going to throw out his customer of 20years just because he wants a cigarette.

A word of advice to smokers: As a heavy smoker myself of 11 years, I've tried to give up 3 times this year alone. Like Dromed, I despise the fact that I smoke and constantly find that it's putting me in antisocial situations, eg having to go outside a house full of people or sitting at the very edge of a table in a pub. During the Summer, I made up my mind to quit & instead of resenting/bemoaning the decision, I welcomed it and really got it into my head that I wanted to be a non-smoker. I was off them for about 3 weeks and hardly even noticed the pangs. Then I went back to work and it felt like I'd quit the night before. Anyway, back to normal now, so I'm trying again. But ONLY because I WANT to. The smoking ban has nothing to do with it. I really think that using that as an incentive is a bad idea, because that incentive is forced on you and will be all the more difficult to follow. To hell with the smoking ban, quit for your own reasons. Good luck to all you will-be quitters. Q2

John, Thanks for bringing up this point about the discussion board. I too agree that the level of discussion on the board has been diluted the last while. One of the reasons (but most definitely NOT the only reason) is that the number of posts announcing gigs appearing on the "Soap box" board has diluted the number of postings that could - and should - end up as useful and stimulating discussions. I take the rap for this because I should have been stricter on what gets posted where. Better late than never and all that, but from now on I'm going to be stricter on this. So any posts to the 'Soap Box' that are announcing a gig will be moved by one of the moderators to the 'Gig announcements' board or - if they are already appearing on that board - they will be deleted from the ‘Soap box’. I've already started doing this with the most recent posts below that were announcing gigs. Another side of the coin is that – and apologies as I state the obvious here – stimulating discussions don’t drop out of the sky. Someone has got to start a discussion and others have got to respond and let it take root. There’s is no shortage of topics out there that merit discussion and there’s no shortage of visitors to the board who have opinions when it comes to music. So it’s over to us all get the discussions flowing. For the moment anyway I confirm that the gig announcements will be kept away from the ‘Soap box’ board. Howz dat sound? All comments welcome, etc. And as for the smoking ban? I had the pleasure to spend some time this summer in California where they have a full smoking ban going on in the bars. All I can say is the bars were still packed, the heads were still having one helluva time and, when I eventually crawled out of a bar, my clothes smelt of nothing offensive but my cheap aftershave and my potent BO. Not a whiff of tobacco of course. Bring it on Minister Martin. eoghan Eoghan O’Neill Eidtor, Webmaster & other fine sounding things www.cluas.com – lending an ear to the Irish music scene

on the smoking ban... its terrible news how am i ever gonna pull i rely on smoking to make me look cool :) nah, seriously tho, i welcome it... not sure if i'm in denial or what but i'm not a heavy smoker apart from when i'm drinking, so i guess i'd consider myself a social smoker, maybe 5 a day normally or so and on a night out anywhere up to 40 which for me as a bum is not only bad for my health but also for my pocket. no doubt i wont give up entirely when the new rules come in but it might mean on a night out i might smoke 5 or 10 instead of 20 or 40 and for me that can only be good. i do see alot of trouble enforcing it especially if as Q2 says the gardaí arent gonna help dealing with complaints etc. but ya never know... maybe the amount of anti smoker folk will outweigh the pro smokers and smoking folk will be afraid to light up in a pub. Also... all of my friends who smoke (as i do) have alot of respect for those who dont smoke and would always ask before smoking in others company etc. maybe that'll convert to a similar respect situation in pubs & clubs...although no doubt you'll have your pricks who "have the right to smoke wherever and whenever" they f**kin want etc...

The smoking ban, I'm all for it. It's poxy having even just one pint and coming out off a pub stinking of smoke. As regards enforcing it I'm not too confident, I mean there's no smoking on the buses after all. And that doesn't seem to stop people even with the chance of a hefty fine. Though if it even cuts it down to a few people having a crafty fag in a place instead of chain smoking the night away it'll be worth it, anyway as long as I can bang up in the jax, leafing through my animal porn mag I'll be fine.