NI government offices to implement smoke ban

Government departments in Northern Ireland are to become no smoking zones from next year.

Ministers in Belfast decided to follow the lead of the Republic of Ireland and from January 1 next all government departments in Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Office will become smoke free.

There are more than 30,000 civil servants in Northern Ireland and the move will involve the closure of more than 140 smoking rooms – smoking in offices is already banned.

The only exceptions will be in the North’s prisons.

Northern Ireland Health Minister Angela Smith welcomed the decision. “This is a very important employer-driven initiative and will, hopefully, encourage other employers in Northern Ireland to follow," she said.

“It may also help those smokers who wish to quit.”

Sinn Féin welcomed the announcement and said pressure to introduce a workplace smoking ban in the North was now “impossible to ignore”.