High-profile former Independent senator and marriage equality campaigner Averil Power has ruled out running in the next general election after taking up a “challenging” €95,000 a year charity sector role.

Open fires can cause breathing difficulties for people with asthma and respiratory problems, according to the Irish Asthma Society. The comments come after it emerged the most recent building regulations actively discourage homeowners from installing open fireplaces.

The foreign affairs minister was last night urged to intervene in a custody battle involving two Limerick children. They are in the care of a woman in the US who has been questioned by police about a head wound which claimed the life of their father.

At least one person dies every week in Ireland from asthma, a condition that costs the economy €500m a year, according to the Asthma Society of Ireland.

Asthma sufferers have hit out at Ireland’s “one size fits all” system of managing the condition, saying it is not treated seriously enough.

A move to extend the ban on smoky coal to a leading tourist town, where air pollution far exceeds EU and World Health Organisation limits, has been resisted by councillors.

PEOPLE out walking these evenings in areas where the ‘’smoky’’ coal ban does not apply, will know the air is anything but clean.

The Asthma Society is conducting clinics to show teachers how to manage children who have the condition.

Health charities have reacted angrily to attempts by German business groups and MEPs to derail Ireland’s planned ban on branded tobacco products.

The Government has done a u-turn on funding cuts it made to organisations working with the sick and people with disabilities.

The Asthma Society has called on the new Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, to combat the high cost of medication they say puts asthma sufferers at higher risk of attack.

Parents of children with asthma have been found wanting when it comes to managing the condition, evidenced by the almost one in eight who had to bring their child to the emergency department last year.

Almost 2,000 lives could be saved every year with an all-island smokey coal ban, the Asthma Society of Ireland has claimed.

Teenagers would be put off trying smoking for the first time if tobacco was sold in plain packets, health campaigners have said.

The Asthma Society of Ireland has said that a nationwide ban on 'smoky coal' would be a major boost for the country's 470,000 asthma sufferers.

GIVEN that 2012 will see a variety of major sporting events — the Olympics, Euro 2012 — many people with asthma will feel like they can only look on as others participate in sport.

EVEN though Derek Jennings worked in addiction support, he didn’t know his own child had started using drugs. “Being a man, I said, ‘I’ll stop it’,” he says of his 14-year-old’s addiction.

A DRAMATIC 40% reduction in the number of asthma deaths last year has been cautiously welcomed by the Asthma Society of Ireland.

THE imminent return to school may cause a rise in asthma among children but families have been advised that the risk can be reduced with a bit of planning.

ALMOST nine out of 10 people would feel uncomfortable about helping a child who is having an asthma attack, a survey reveals.

An international conference will hear later today that almost half a million people are affected by asthma in Ireland.

A SCIENTIFIC breakthrough could benefit hundreds of thousands of Irish asthmatics who experience serious attacks when suffering from a cold.

Eddie Cassidy

The Government must act to tackle the growing number of young people suffering from asthma in Ireland, it was claimed today.

Health Minister Micheál Martin has praised the work of non-governmental organisations in helping the introduction of the workplace smoking ban in Ireland.

The Asthma Society has reiterated its view that the illness is not taken seriously enough in Ireland, even among sufferers.

IRISH children are far more likely to have asthma than those in other EU countries, according to a European survey.

PUBLICANS have threatened to hit the Government where it hurts by running anti-smoking ban candidates to challenge key seats in next year’s local elections.

The Asthma Society of Ireland today expressed its concern that the ban imposed on rugby player Frankie Sheahan may send out wrong and worrying signals to tens of thousands of people living with asthma.

TOP rugby player Frankie Sheahan is a role model for asthmatics despite his latest brush with controversy, the Asthma Society said yesterday.

IRELAND has the highest level of asthma in Europe, a new study published today reveals.