Smoky coal ban: Extend the prohibition nationwide

It is now almost 30 years since smoky coal was banned in Dublin. That led to an immediate improvement in air quality and public health.

According to the Asthma Society of Ireland, 8,200 deaths have been prevented in Dublin since the ban was introduced in 1990.

Smog became such a major health issue in Dublin in the late 1980s that it forced then Fianna Fáil junior minister, Mary Harney, to outlaw the burning of smoky coal in the capital.

The ban has since been extended to Cork City, and other cities and towns, but not nationwide.

The bizarre and unacceptable result of that is that smaller towns continue to have poorer air quality compared to nearby larger centres of population.

Even with a ban in place, pollution is still a problem. On Tuesday, a report by the Environmental Protection Agency revealed that the air quality in parts of Cork city is very poor.

That same day, Cork City was identified as the EU blackspot for air quality by Purple Air, a global air quality monitoring site. On Monday, Cork’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was put at 156 — more than double the rating for London and well above the internationally accepted threshold for harmful effects on health.

Air pollution is responsible for an estimated 1,180 premature deaths in Ireland each year, according to a recent report by the Environmental Protection Agency, so how long must we wait for a nationwide ban on smoky coal? It has been promised since 2015, but has been delayed by the Government, amid legal threats from the coal industry.

It is hardly a surprise that those with a commercial interest in smoky coal should threaten legal action on a ban. What is a surprise is that the Government appears to have been rendered helpless by a few solicitors’ letters.

It is time to face down the coal merchants and introduce a nationwide ban, even if that leads to lengthy and costly court cases. Smoky coal is, literally, a matter of life and death.

Among the most vulnerable groups are asthmatics. The Asthma Society of Ireland (ASI) continues to highlight the potentially devastating consequences of air pollution on public health.

Ireland has one of the highest asthma hospitalisation rates in Western Europe. Deaths from the condition are also increasing — up from 44, in 2010, to 63, in 2016.

For the past year, we have seen a rise, globally, of a new generation of environmentalists, who are challenging governments and institutions to reduce the harmful effects of greenhouse gasses on our planet. Global protesters have pointed to the bleak future, unless we step up efforts to do away with fossil fuels.

Among those efforts is ending the use of smoky, dirty coal. International studies show that within a year of the introduction of such bans, there is a long-term improvement in people’s lung and heart health.

Even without a nationwide ban, there is nothing to stop individuals and families from making the responsible choice, because smoky coal affects their health and that of their children.