Finian McGrath has come under fire for his “unhelpful and irresponsible” comments on smoking.

Ireland is the fourth most regulated ‘nanny state’ in the EU, according to a new report that ranks countries by their policies on eating, smoking, and drinking.

“Paul our driver took a blow to the face and was pretty shaken but is ok.”

Tipperary minor manager Liam Cahill believes some former stars have “failed” their county by refusing to get involved in the coaching of underage teams.

Electronic cigarettes are not encouraging young people to smoke, research by a British health charity has shown.

The bands will play alongside the Foo Fighters, Kaiser Chiefs and Grammy award-winner Hozier.

Three television ads for e-cigarettes have been banned in the UK just weeks after new rules came into effect allowing people to be shown using the devices.

Anti-smoking campaigners have accused TV adverts which show e-cigarette use for the first time of "sexualising" vaping.

Anti-smoking campaigners in the UK have accused TV advertisements which show e-cigarette use for the first time of “sexualising” vaping.

Electronic cigarettes should be banned from indoor spaces and face curbs on their sale over health fears, the World Health Organisation has said.

Electronic cigarettes should face greater restrictions on their use, sale and promotion, the World Health Organisation has said.

Wales could be the first part of the UK to ban smoking e-cigarettes in enclosed public spaces.

Switching to e-cigarettes could save millions of smokers’ lives, a conference on the increasingly popular devices heard, though some experts warned more research on the health effects is needed.

The Government's decision to abolish the €3 travel tax could create more than 1,000 jobs at Irish airports, Ryanair claimed today.

It could be Ireland.

Talking cigarette packets have been created to combat smoking.

Cigarette packets in the UK could be stripped of all logos and feature just one huge health warning, according to new plans.

IRISH smokers purchased 4.3 billion cigarettes from companies in the tobacco industry last year, new figures show.

Greece, praised for its budget cutbacks and austerity programme, is going after another vice from today: smoking.

Thousands of music fans have donned their wellies and braved muddy fields for the first day of Reading Festival.

Music fans at the T in the Park festival were praised today for their “vibrant” spirits.

IN response to Michael O’Shea of the Irish Heart Foundation regarding cigarette smuggling into Ireland (Letters, April 23), the Minister for Finance is perfectly correct when he states it is the result of high taxation on cigarettes.

ANTI-smoking groups say the Government must increase taxes on cigarettes immediately and ban below-cost selling to prevent prices falling, following a ruling by the European Court of Justice.

Musician Jack White today claimed the music industry was in a “dying era”, and told how artists now had to use “trickery” to make money.

Cigarette vending machines could soon be a thing of the past in the UK after MPs agreed to ban them.

A complete ban on tobacco advertising in shops comes into force tomorrow.

AS budget time rolls around again, the usual phobic anti-smokers are calling for an increase in the price of cigarettes.

DESPITE the introduction of the smoking ban nearly three years ago, smoking levels have increased in this country, according to a national study of Irish health and lifestyles.

WHILE the flapping sails of hundreds of yachts will provide a massive spectacle off Crosshaven in July, there is also plenty of events lined up to entertain the landlubber.

The lead singer of rock band Snow Patrol is to appear before a Northern Assembly committee at Stormont today.

SO Brian Cowen gave in to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and their fanatical anti-smokers by adding 30 cent to the price of cigarettes.

I NOTE Prof Luke Clancy of Action on Smoking & Health (ASH) is back trying to persuade Finance Minister Brian Cowen to add €2 to the price of a packet of cigarettes in the forthcoming budget.

The Government was today called on to reduce the number of deaths from cardiac arrest by investing in life-saving school resuscitation programmes.

SMOKERS are paying up to twice as much as non-smokers for life assurance and compulsory mortgage insurance, new figures show.

IRELAND has taken the lead in protecting non-smokers from tobacco smoke pollution, a European Commission-funded report has said.

THE anti-smoking lobby is on a collision course with trade unions and the country’s statisticians over proposals to reform the way cigarette price rises are measured.

A music festival on a remote Scottish island was today hailed as a huge success by organisers.

PROFESSOR Luke Clancy of anti-smoking group ASH says: “While the Government was making some efforts to curb tobacco use, they’re not doing enough” (Irish Examiner Letters, March 3).

THE Government is not doing enough to stop children taking up smoking, a leading anti-tobacco campaigner said yesterday as new figures showed that cigarette sales are on the increase in Ireland.

ANTI-SMOKING campaigners last night called for €2 extra to be put on a packet of 20 cigarettes to stub out the rising numbers of smokers.

An anti-smoking lobby group is calling for the smoking ban to be strengthened and clarified in order to clamp down on increasingly enclosed smoking areas in pubs.

IRISH people are buying more cigarettes, despite the country having the toughest anti-smoking measures in Europe, it emerged yesterday.