NI health minister hails success of smoking ban

A health minister said today he was keeping an open mind on the introduction of a full smoking ban in Northern Ireland by 2007.

Northern Ireland health minister Shaun Woodward, an ex-smoker, visited Doheny and Nesbitt’s pub in Dublin, a traditional establishment which was once famous for its “pint and a smoke” customers before the Irish smoking ban came in March 2004.

Mr Woodward said he had been very impressed with the successful implementation of the ban.

“What we’re seeing here is that people have changed to a healthier lifestyle and the decision the Government made here was frankly pioneering. New York and Dublin led the way and the rest of us are following,” he said.

The Northern Ireland Office is beginning the consultation process to decide whether to introduce a full smoking ban in public places or a partial ban, which would only cover locations where food is served.

Mr Woodward said he was keeping an open mind on the end result.

“What I may feel personally as someone who has recently given up, people may reach their own conclusions on.”

While Mr Woodward sat with a pint of Guinness, he talked to Morgan Weymes, a young DJ from Dublin.

“I’m a smoker and I agree with the smoking ban,” he told the minister.

Mr Woodward said that as a former smoker, who had quit the habit four months ago, it was a shock to learn that smokers in the Irish Republic supported the ban.

“It’s good to meet someone who has been through the difficulties I’ve been through,” he said.

A recent public poll of 70,000 people in Northern Ireland by the Health Department found that 91% were in favour of a ban on smoking in all enclosed public places and workplaces.

The British Medical Association in Northern Ireland has also come out in favour of a total ban.

Mr Woodward said he had learned from his visit to Dublin of the importance of the trade unions, who had strongly supported the Irish ban on the grounds that passive smoking was harming their members in bars and restaurants particularly.

“That’s certainly a message I will be taking back. Why should someone in the workplace, whether it be a bar or an office, who doesn’t smoke, be subjected to a treacherous smoke atmosphere which will cost them their lives?

“It just seems to me to be totally unfair and totally wrong,” he said.

However, he said there was a lot of support in Northern Ireland for a total ban but added that there were still a lot of issues to be confronted.

“We’ve got to be able to enforce this and enforcement is not about punishing people. What you really want is a climate where people feel it’s wrong to smoke,” he said.

The Irish Social and Family Affairs Minister, Seamus Brennan, sat beside Mr Woodward and told him that the ban had been very successful.

“We would encourage him to go for the total ban. At the time we did it, there was a hot and heavy debate but it’s very hard now to find someone who wants to change it back,” he said.

He added that there had also been significant gains for the state in terms of public expenditure, with a reduction in the number of smokers and a fall-off in the number of people being admitted to hospital for smoke-related diseases.