Number of schoolchildren who smoke almost halves in 12 years

Only one in ten young people in Ireland is now a smoker, according to recent data from the Health Behaviour in School Aged Children report.

The report found that between 1998 and 2010, the number of young smokers almost halved to 11.9%.

There has also been a sizeable drop in the number of young people who have tried smoking with less than half of 15 to 17 year olds having tried smoking in 2010, compared to 62% in 2002.

Hundreds of young people are gathering in Dublin today for the Irish Cancer Society's X-Hale film festival.