Pressure on North to copy smoking ban

The British government was under growing pressure tonight to introduce a ban on smoking in bars, restaurants and all workplaces in Northern Ireland as a trial for the rest of the UK.

A similar ban was introduced in the Republic in March and, while some publicans have complained it is damaging business, it has been generally well received.

Local pressure on the UK government to introduce copycat legislation intensified as the Department of Health in Belfast awaited the results of research commissioned to discover the extent of public support for smoking prohibitions or restrictions.

The Department said it expected the results shortly and was at the same time carefully monitoring the impact of the ban in the Republic.

There have been suggestions that the Northern Ireland Office is actively considering introducing a ban in the North as a testing ground for the rest of the UK.

The Ulster Cancer Foundation tonight called on Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy and his Health Minister Angela Smith to introduce healthy smoke-free workplaces “as a number one priority”.

Gerry McElwee, head of cancer prevention at the foundation, said: “Since the successful implementation of the ban in the Republic, there has been a growing groundswell of public support for the introduction of legislation here.”

He added: “We call on the Secretary of State and Health Minister to press ahead with legislation here in Northern Ireland as a pilot for the UK.

“We know that legislation would have the backing of local politicians, trade unions and the general public.

“Employees in the North are looking enviously at the protection given to their southern colleagues and we demand urgent action.”

UCF colleague Pat McGreevy stressed that it was “the right thing to do, now is the right time and Northern Ireland is the right place.”

Sinn Féin added their voice to the call for action.

Health spokesman John O’Dowd said: “The introduction of a smoking ban in the workplace would be the single greatest advance in public health for a generation.”

The calls went out as a new report showed nearly 40,000 people in Northern Ireland were living with cancer.

The Northern Ireland Cancer Register found survival rates varied markedly from one form of cancer to another.

Virtually everyone with skin cancer was still alive after five years but among lung cancer sufferers the survival rate plunged to one in 10 being alive five years after diagnosis.

And lung cancer has overtaken breast cancer to become the biggest cancer killer among women.

However, lung cancer among men is shown to be down.