Chain smoker keeps his promise

I can remember visiting [my father] while he was dying from lung cancer aged 50. He made me promise to stop smoking. These were the first words he had ever uttered to me.

I promised I would and promptly lit up as soon as I left the hospital, so in thrall was I to my addiction."

Allen Carr was a chain smoker for 33 years but later on went from smoking 100 cigarettes a day to none.

Today there are over 40 Allen Carr Clinics across the world.

There are two in Ireland in Dublin and in Cork. The Dublin clinic has attracted 1,000 clients since the beginning of the year. The session costs €270 per person in groups of 18 with money-back guarantees.

Allen's first book entitled 'The Easyway to Stop Smoking' is a self-help book for quitting the habit and was first published 20 years ago.

It has sold five million copies, been printed in 20 different languages and has held the number-one slot in many countries.

Last year the clinics treated in excess of 20,000 smokers.

Clinic sessions last 4-5 hours with smokers needing only to attend one seminar and Carr claims a 90% success rate.