THE owners of the Limerick Radisson Blu Hotel have banned the sale of cigarettes at all its 11 hotels after a staff member sold cigarettes to a 14 year old girl deployed by the HSE to test the Limerick hotel’s compliance with the sale of tobacco legislation.
At Ennis District Court, solicitor Harry McCullagh acting for Inua Hospitality, which owns the hotel on northern outskirts of Limerick City, said that the prosecution was the final straw in the group’s decision to end the sale of cigarettes in all its hotels.
Inua Hospitality chief executive Sean O’Driscoll later confirmed that the ending of the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products was “due to less consumer demand and also the less stress on personnel regarding their duties and application of the sale of tobacco legislation”.
As part of the move, the hotel group has removed all cigarette vending machines from its hotel and Mr O’Driscoll added: “Given the reduction in the number of people smoking cigarettes, we feel it is no longer vital for hotels to sell cigarettes. This is based on guest feedback.”
He added that the move also concerned the protection of its 1,300 employees and that it will not have any material impact on the group’s revenues.
In his role as company nominee, Mr O’Driscoll was convicted and fined €400 for the sale by a Radisson Blu Limerick staff member of tobacco products to a 14 year old girl on May 20 last.
The HSE withdrew a prosecution against the Radisson staff member who sold the teenager the cigarettes. The court was told that the staff member involved was still an employee of the hotel and was undergoing three weeks induction training at the time.
Judge Mary Larkin praised Mr O’Driscoll’s move to end the selling of cigarettes across the hotels.
“I can’t argue but that he has dealt with it the right way and it is not going to be selling any cigarettes or matters upsetting people’s health.”
