One of the county’s largest hotel groups has stopped selling cigarettes and tobacco products across its 11 hotels on foot of a HSE underage ‘secret shopper’ prosecution. Inua Hospitality chief executive Sean O’Driscoll said the move 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 Cork-headquartered hotel group has removed all cigarette vending machines from its properties.
“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,” Mr O’Driscoll said, adding that the move also concerned the protection of its 1,300 employees.
Mr O’Driscoll made his comments after he was, in his role as a nominee of an Inua hotel firm, Inua Limerick General Partner Ltd, which operates the Radisson Blu and Spa hotel at Limerick, last Friday convicted and fined €400 for the sale by a Radisson Blu Limerick hotel staff member of tobacco products to a 14-year-old girl on May 20th last.
A guilty plea was made concerning the HSE prosecution comprised of two summons against Mr O’Driscoll in his role as company nominee.
The HSE prosecution arose from the HSE employing the 14-year-old “secret shopper” on the date to test the hotel’s compliance with the sale of tobacco legislation.
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Solicitor for Inua Hospitality Harry McCullagh told a sitting of Ennis District Court that the HSE prosecution of the hotel for the sale of cigarettes to a minor “was the final straw” in the group’s decision to end the sale of cigarettes.
In court, Judge Mary Larkin praised Mr O’Driscoll’s move to end the selling of cigarettes across the hotels.
She said: “I can’t argue but that Mr O’Driscoll has dealt with it the right way and it is not going to be dealing or selling any cigarettes or matters upsetting people’s health.”
Ballintemple-based Inua last year recorded revenues of €78 million. Mr O’Driscoll said the shift on cigarettes wouldnot have any material impact on revenues.
He said the company implemented the no sale of cigarettes last October “and we have received no negative feedback from our guests”.
The group’s hotels include Radisson hotels in Athlone, Sligo and Cork. It also operates the Muckross Park Hotel & Spa in Co Kerry along with hotels in Kilkenny, Dundalk, Tullamore and Dublin.
