Fitter a quitter and proud of it

DEREK HAYES is a quitter and proud of it.

All that lights up now are his eyes when he thinks of the sunshine holiday he received as his prize.

And there’s no fear that he will fall back into old ways - the smoking ban has been a “massive help” in helping him to stay off cigarettes.

Derek smoked for more than half of his life, first lighting up at 12.

He was smoking up to 80 cigarettes a day before taking part in the Kick the Habit competition organised by the Construction Employees Health Trust (CEHT) in association with the Irish Cancer Society and the Irish Heart Foundation on Ash Wednesday this year.

“The smoking ban was a massive help because the worst time for me was when I was out for a drink,” he said.

Asked why he quit, Derek said smoking was sapping his energy. He had tried to quit before but always let down his guard once he had a few drinks.

Derek also believes the ban is helping other construction workers to stop smoking - only two of the 15 people he works with smoke.

A staggering 41% of the country’s 50,000 construction workers smoke compared to the national average of 27%. CWHT first launched the annual competition six years ago specifically to reduce the large amount of construction workers who smoke.

Workers, like Derek, who stayed off cigarettes for three months were in with a chance of winning a holiday voucher valued at €3,500.

Three months later, 57% of 206 participants were still off the cigarettes - most having quit using willpower alone.

All who took part in the contest were contacted by a smoking cessation counsellor from the Irish Heart Foundation and Irish Cancer Society. Since the competition started, more than 1,000 construction workers have quit smoking.