Martin said the health department surveyed opinion among Ireland's 3.8 million people, about 70 percent of whom don't smoke, and decided that designating no smoking areas within pubs simply wouldn't work.

"The majority — the overwhelming majority — have said to me and to the department: Go the whole way. The majority are in favor of an all-out ban," he said.

Maureen Mulvihill, promotions manager at the Irish Heart Foundation, said thousands of nonsmokers like her had felt uncomfortable in pubs. "It's surprising news," she said, "but it's only possible because of the drastic change in public opinion."

Martin has already raised the legal age for buying cigarettes from 16 to 18; outlawed tobacco ads in newspapers and magazines; and barred tobacco companies from sponsoring events.

The Vintners Federation of Ireland, representing about 6,000 pubs, vowed to fight the ban, which it called "unworkable, untenable and unenforceable." It insisted that better ventilation was a reasonable alternative, but Martin said that would be insufficient.

Pubs that flout the ban would be fined, he said, without specifying the amounts.

Mandate, the union representing pub employees, supported a ban, citing research claiming an estimated 150 bar staff in Ireland die prematurely each year because of second-hand smoke.

Barmen said the change would be for the best.

"I think it's a good idea," said Damian Ryan, assistant manager at Doheny and Nesbitts, a favorite watering hole for politicians just around the corner from parliament. "The reason above all that people come to a pub is to meet people and chat. They don't need a cigarette for that."