An Open Letter Before the Seanad Vote: I've Had Enough. Have You?

Eoin O'Boyle

Oct 20, 2026

Strict, but fair. Copy New Zealand. Daily smoking: Ireland 13%, New Zealand 6.8%.

An open letter from Eoin · Seanad vote Wednesday 21 October, 3pm

If the vote passes tomorrow, every vape flavour could be banned within a year.

All of them: fruit, menthol, mint, the lot. Only tobacco and unflavoured would be left. This is the bill's last stage in the Seanad, so we only get one chance at this.

See the 5-step plan ↓▶ Listen live tomorrow

This is the open letter we sent to our customers on Tuesday 20 October 2026. It isn't a sale and there's no discount code. If you vape, or you know someone who quit smoking with a vape, please read it to the end.

I've had enough. Have you?

I don't normally write like this. But as things stand, this ban looks like it's going to pass. A few of us have spent months emailing, calling and making the case. It hasn't been enough.

The only thing that changes a vote now is Senators hearing from hundreds of real people in the next 24 hours. That's where you come in.

For eight years, my family and my team have run OB Vape with one goal: help people stop smoking, and do it properly. We ID. We sell to adults only. And every single week, someone tells us they haven't touched a cigarette in years. Those stories are why we open the door every morning.

If this ban goes through, OB Vape won't survive it. Neither will most of Ireland's independent, Irish-owned vape shops. But that's not the worst part.

60,000

people who quit smoking could go back to cigarettes if flavours are banned.

Up to 60,000 nationally, according to the vaping advocacy group Respect Vapers.

94% of our customers choose a flavour. It's what makes the switch stick, and what stops a vape tasting like the thing you're trying to leave behind.
€7 tax on every 10ml bottle from January, before VAT. Now the same Government wants a ban too.

They're hitting the big red button

Two weeks ago, the Budget raised the tax on e-liquid again. Now the same Government wants to take away the flavours adults actually use. That isn't regulation. That's switching off an entire industry, and everyone who used it to quit.

They're blaming the wrong shops

The Government keeps pointing at "vape shops" popping up on every street. Most of them aren't vape shops. They're phone shops, sweet shops and mini-markets with vapes on the shelf beside the sweets and fizzy drinks.

I agree 100%: that shouldn't be allowed. Deal with those shops. Don't punish the ones that ID every customer and do it right.

What we'd support instead

Plain packaging. No cartoons, no bright colours, as long as adult flavours stay.
No vapes beside sweets. Get them out of shops where kids buy penny sweets.
Real enforcement. Proper licensing and serious fines for anyone selling to under-18s.
The New Zealand model. Strict, but fair.

As the graphic at the top shows: in New Zealand, supermarkets and garages can only sell tobacco, mint and menthol. The flavours stay in approved specialist shops, for adults. Their daily smoking rate is 6.8%. Ours is 13%, and it hasn't moved since 2019. We're not asking for no rules. We're asking for the right ones.

One chance · Our recommended plan

Do these five things before 3pm tomorrow

Fifteen minutes, start to finish. In this order.

Email every Senator (tonight, 5 mins). Say how long you smoked, when you quit and what flavour got you there. Two lines is enough. Copy our ready-made email.
Send the same email to your local TDs (tonight, 3 mins). They answer to you at the next election. Find your TDs & Senators.
Ring Leinster House (tomorrow morning, 2 mins). Call 01 618 3000 and leave a message for the Senators: "Please vote against the flavour ban."
Listen in, then share it (tomorrow morning). I'll be live on The Claire Byrne Show on Newstalk tomorrow morning, making the case before the vote. Listen live on Newstalk.
Tell us your story and share this page (any time, 1 min). Email info@obvape.ie and tell us how vaping helped you. We're bringing real stories on air (first names only, and only with your OK). Then send this page to every vaper you know.

The vote is at 3pm on Wednesday 21 October. After that, it's too late.

Say it with me: I've had enough. Then tell the people voting tomorrow.

Whatever happens at 3pm, thank you for eight years of backing a small Irish family business. It's meant more than you know.

Eoin & the OB team
OB Vape, Drogheda

Want the full detail? Read what's in the flavour ban bill, what happens after Wednesday, and a copy-and-paste email for Senators.

Adults only: Vapes and nicotine products are for adults aged 18 and over. Nicotine is addictive. If you don't smoke or vape, don't start.

Sources: Healthy Ireland Survey 2025; New Zealand Health Survey 2024/25 (daily smokers, age 15+); NZ Ministry of Health vaping flavour rules; Budget 2027 (E-liquid Products Tax €0.70/ml from 1 January 2027); Respect Vapers. Written by Eoin O'Boyle, owner of OB Vape, Drogheda. Published 20 October 2026.