Actually it doesn't have to wait for the law - publicans can introduce no smoking policies, and some have. That proabbaly means thye have found that it paid off.

After all, in pretty well all pubs I use, smokers are outnumbered several times over by people who are not smoking.

Perhaps the Irish theme pubs could lead the way, and make the places a bit more authentically Irish.

But I'd not advise asking strangers in pubs to stop smoking, since it'sd be unlikely to work. If I was smoking in a pub, more expeically if noone else in the room was smoking, though I would see it as good manners to ask the people I was with if it was all right, and I would abide by their wishes.

But what really bugs me is when people put their fag down to smoulder away in the ash-tray, or even spiked on a guitar string. At least when it's secondhand smoke the worst of it has been filtered out by the smoker's lungs before it gets to you.