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Majority Want Smoking Banned in All Homes 

A clear majority wants smoking banned in all homes, even if children are not present, and even if the smoke is not drifting into an adjoining dwelling.

This could expand the latest front in the war to protect nonsmokers, says the man who started the nonsmokers' movement by getting smoking first restricted and then banned on airplanes and then in workplaces and public places, and who is racking up victories in the battle to ban smoking in private dwellings and cars.

According to a new survey, 57% of the people in Ireland support a ban on smoking in all homes and cars.

This could indicate growing support for smoking bans both here and abroad, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) -- America's first antismoking organization, and the group behind restrictions on smoking in

homes in almost three fourths of the states -- because the percentage of smokers in Ireland is substantially higher than in the US.

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Support to Stop Smoking in Homes and Cars 

A ban on smoking in homes and cars would be supported by the majority of Irish people, a new survey reveals.

The study, commissioned by Pfizer to investigate new ways of curbing smoking, revealed that 57% of people in Ireland would agree to a ban on smoking in homes and cars.

In addition:

80% of people would like to see further restrictions on the place of sale of tobacco products

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• Smoking on rise again  

SMOKERS are on the increase in Ireland despite the introduction of the ban on lighting up in public places nearly three years ago.

The number of smokers reportedly fell from 33 per cent in 1998 to 27 per cent in 2002, but jumped alarmingly to 29 per cent last year, according to a survey published by Ireland's Department of Health.

Anti-smoking lobbyists ASH Ireland have called for a 50 cent increase in the cost of cigarettes, the removal of all smoking advertising from shops and huge investment in educating young people on the risks of tobacco.

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• Shock smoking images exhibited 

Shocking graphic images of the effects of smoking displayed on cigarette packets across the world are currently on display in Dublin.

The photographs of varying severity including diseased lungs, throat tumours, spontaneous abortions, and rotting gums and teeth are on display in Dublin's Central Library at the ILAC Centre until June 20.

'The Power of Communications against Tobacco' exhibition shows 42 images approved by the European Union.

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• Mitchell launches product to help smokers quit habit  

FAMILIES were urged to help relatives stub out smoking with a new product which, it was claimed, helps 60% of people kick the habit.

MEP Gay Mitchell presented the new Irish-produced quit smoking aid in the European Parliament. The company producing the product, NicoBloc, says it reduces the amount of tar and nicotine inhaled from smoked cigarettes.

Mr Mitchell said as a child he had only been weeks away from his sixth birthday when his father, 54, a smoker, died of lung cancer.

Two of his brothers and a sister, who were not smokers, have since died from cancer. . . .

NicoBloc is a liquid which users put on the filter of cigarettes. The substance traps tar and nicotine before it leaves the cigarette.

However, rather than acting as a substitute, like other smoke free products such as nicotine patches, it helps stops smoking.

Users add one drop on each cigarette in the first week, two on each one in the second and three in the third.

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Harney to ban cigarette machines  

Health minister Mary Harney is close to introducing a ban on the sale of cigarettes through vending machines and the ending of in-store advertising for tobacco products.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said that Harney would shortly announce a commencement date to extend the Public Health Tobacco Acts 2002 and 2004, including a ban on all displays and in-store advertising of cigarettes and tobacco.

In a survey by the Office of Tobacco Control earlier this year, 92 per cent of shops visited had some form of tobacco advertisement on display.

The minister will also introduce legislation to allow for combined text and photo warnings on tobacco products. This is in addition to the ban on the sale of ten packs of cigarettes that came into force in May 2007, in an effort to curb smoking among young people.

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Report: Air quality in NI bars 93% better 

Air quality in bars is 93 per cent cleaner a year after the smoking ban was introduced in Northern Ireland, according to new research published today.

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Revenue raid seizes smuggled cigarettes 

A MASSIVE international cigarette-smuggling operation was dealt a major blow yesterday when Revenue Customs officers seized 30 million contraband cigarettes worth an estimated €11m.

The haul -- the biggest single seizure since 2002 -- included Palace and Silk Cut brands. They were concealed in four 40-foot containers which had arrived at Dublin port from Singapore and were destined for the Irish and UK markets.

A multi-agency international operation spanning several weeks and codenamed 'PALMAL' swung into operation after the containers were loaded onto a ship in Singapore on April 22.

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38 pubs breached smoking ban in 2007 

A total of 38 pubs were prosecuted last year for breaching the smoking ban, according to the Office of Tobacco Control's annual report.

Nearly 29,000 inspections of workplaces were carried out by environmental health officers and 95% were found to be compliant.

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Thirty-eight venues prosecuted over Irish smoke ban 

Thirty-eight pubs, hotels and restaurants in Ireland were prosecuted last year for breaches of the smoking ban, latest figures have revealed.

Out of 7,033 inspections of pubs, bars and clubs, 87 per cent of premises were compliant, the Office of Tobacco Control Annual Report 2007 showed.

Overall 43 cases were brought after a total of nearly 29,000 inspections of all workplaces by environmental health officers. Four cases related to taxi companies and one to a public building.

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• Shocking anti-smoking images to be used on cigarette packs  

SHOCKING images showing the health consequences of smoking are to be posted on cigarette packets, along with text warnings about the potentially deadly impact of the habit, the Department of Health confirmed yesterday.

The public have been invited to make submissions on 14 colour photographs for tobacco packaging. . . .

The images can be viewed on the Department of Health website at www.dohc.ie. Submissions can be emailed to tobaccoconsultation@ health.irlgov.ie.

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Nuala O'Faolain; Irish Writer Illuminated Female Isolation  

Nuala O'Faolain, 68, an Irish journalist who in midlife turned an introduction to a collection of columns into a best-selling memoir and then quickly wrote a novel, another memoir and a biography, died of cancer May 10 at the Blackrock Hospice in Dublin. . . .

She also began a long-term but ultimately unsatisfying relationship with a man whom she followed to London. There, she became a BBC producer, making community access programs, traveling extensively, writing and teaching. Her relationship ended and, drinking and smoking heavily, she returned to Ireland in 1977

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OTC reports 43 cases over smoking ban 

There were 43 cases taken for breaches of the smoking ban last year, including 38 against licensed premises, according to figures published today.

The Office of Tobacco Control's (OTC) annual report for 2007 said compliance with the ban on smoking in workplaces is now at 95 per cent. However, it warned against complacency and said the issue of children and smoking must also be tackled.

Some 28,982 inspections were carried out last year by environmental health officers checking compliance.

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Plan to phase out smoking in psychiatric hospitals 

THE GOVERNMENT intends to phase out smoking in psychiatric hospitals under new "best practice" guidelines for the sector supported by the Minister of State for mental health. JOHN DOWNES reports

While these institutions are currently exempt from a ban on smoking in the workplace, it is understood that consideration will be given to removing this exemption should this prove necessary.

The revelation of the plan to phase out smoking in psychiatric hospitals comes as recent industrial action by over 8,000 psychiatric nurses seems set to escalate in the coming days.

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• Survey shows smoking rate up since 2002 

Smoking rates have increased since 2002 despite the introduction of the smoking ban in public places, according to a study published today.

The number of people who said they were smokers fell from 33 per cent in 1998 to 27 per cent in 2002 but increased to 29 per cent last year, according to the Survey of Lifestyle, Attitudes and Nutrition (SLÁN) in Ireland, published by the Department of Health.

Younger people were more likely to smoke (35 per cent of those aged 18-29 years), as were those in lower social class groups and almost one in 10 smokers were actively trying to quit. Some 41 per cent were not planning to quit, according to the survey.

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