Smoking ban is act of police state, says Cregan

ANOTHER Fianna Fáil TD has broken ranks with the leadership on the smoking ban.

FF's poll-topper in Limerick West, John Cregan said: "Rightly or wrongly, this ban is perceived by the public as a police state action, and we have to listen to the public. "I fully support what the minister for health is trying to achieve, but head-on confrontation is not the way to do it.

"As far as I can tell, every backbencher in the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party is taking the same view," he said.