Ireland has a seemingly never-ending supply of really thick politicians. The latest entry into the Pantheon of Clowns is Limerick’s Labour TD Conor Sheehan, who recently exposed his ignorance at the Dáil while yapping about vaping.
You’d think that if someone chooses to speak at Parliament about something, they’d first do some basic research. However, Conor Sheehan doesn’t have time for that. Instead, on vaping at least, he’s happy to deal in half-truths, innuendo, and glaring factual errors.
As reported by Live95 FM, Sheehan believes that the impending Irish disposable vaping ban hasn’t gone far enough. Sheehan’s fury about the tobacco-free product has not quite reached the point of proposing the funding of a time machine to stop disposables reaching the Irish shores, but his comments are just as fantastical and absurd.
Struggle inflation
Economic inflation has affected Ireland as much as any Western economy over the last few years. However, there is a type of inflation that has perhaps been more explosive than the 9% heights of 2022. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I’m talking about struggle inflation.
Victimhood—a currency in itself–comes in many forms, one of which is the appropriation of others' struggles. As reported by Live95, “Deputy Sheehan shared his own long struggle with nicotine addiction,” when addressing the Dáil.
One wonders what Sheehan’s “long struggle” looked like. Did it involve endless stints in and out of jail, rehab, and halfway houses? Long sleepless nights reflecting on how his compulsion had caused him to isolate friends and family, grounding their trust and his own self-respect into a fine powder? Did his life become so out of control that he engaged in degrading and spiritually destructive acts as he desperately chased his next hit?
Or was it simply the case of a man who wanted to hit his vape a few more times than he felt was appropriate?
Fake reusables
The idea of “fake reusables” is one of the stupidest anti-vaping arguments. It requires a special person to lecture others on something they fundamentally misunderstand to this degree.
Let me explain.
In 2016, the EU TPD mandated 2ml limits on vape tanks. These arbitrary restrictions meant that the subsequent generations of disposable devices were only good for a certain number of puffs. However, if the same rules permitted tanks of 10ml, then you’d only need 1 disposable for every 5 devices. In other words, vape recycling could be cut by 80%.
I’ve seen people try to claim that big puff devices, i.e., rechargeable vape devices that could be reused by attaching new 10ml pods, are a “loophole”. It’s not what a loophole is. Currently, you can buy a reusable vape battery, juice, and coil separately, and no one bats an eyelid. Package them together, and suddenly it’s a loophole.
Additionally, if your main objection to disposable vapes is the fact that devices (and their lithium-ion batteries) end up in a landfill, then wouldn’t making the battery-containing device rechargeable and reusable be something to celebrate?
These big puff devices are an example of an industry forced to innovate to meet market demand because of short-sighted, anti-business regulations from inept meddlers.
Big tobacco
Surely there is no more pure ignorance from a public figure shaking his fist in parliament? Of course there is.
Still on the subject of “fake disposables” aka reusable devices, Sheehan says: “I’ve seen the industry in the UK nominally attach a charging point to qualify a device as reusable. We need to mandate standard pods so big tobacco can't dodge these rules."
Yes, Sheehan believes that vapes, a product that has severely disrupted the smoking market, are a Big Tobacco product. While some Big Tobacco companies have released disposables, they account for only a tiny share of that market segment. Instead, around 80% of these products are made by tech companies in Shenzhen, China. These are basic facts that Sheehan should know.
Rival clown
Sadly for the people of Limerick, there is another subpar TD in town. Deputy Richard O’Donoghue also spoke at the Dáil, and claimed that some vapes are so toxic that people "might be better off putting their lips around a car exhaust."
Now look, I get it, these aren’t serious people. Taking their rhetorical exaggerations, or frankly anything they say with anything other than light contempt, is a fool’s errand. However, there is already a concerted media campaign that has undermined the relative safety of vapes when compared to cigarettes. The result of hyperbole like this is that many smokers think vapes are as or more toxic than cigarettes.
The fact is, a person “putting their lips around a car exhaust” from a running engine would quickly receive very high, potentially lethal doses of CO and other gases. That’s literally single-use.
Pop-up shops
Finally, because it’s a point worth making, O’Donoghue also talks about pop-up shops in Limerick, saying, "I’ve seen shops that were open for decades close down because they couldn't make a living, yet these pop-up vape shops can make massive profits. It’s absolutely crazy."
O’Donoghue’s naivety is so quaint that it’s almost charming. Firstly, the margins do not allow these shops to make “massive profits”. Secondly, it’s well established that many of these rogue businesses are money-laundering fronts. Characterising them as “vape shops” is dishonest, but it’s fair to say that if O’Donoghue and his ilk are bringing their brand of acumen to high-street governance, it’s no surprise that criminal activities are passing them by.
Final thoughts
Limerick is not a city without its problems. Low housing stock, out-of-control rents, above-average unemployment, deep health inequalities, and high crime are just some issues that come up when you chat to locals.
The idea that two TDs are flouncing around the Dáil with a thinly researched anti-vaping message is an insult to the concept of representation. While Sheehan and O’Donoghue tilt at Big Tobacco windmills, their people are suffering.
