No Smoking Day - Preaching won’t work

YOU’D need to be living on Mars not to know smoking is bad for you, so bad it kills millions of people addicted to tobacco in one form or another.

But despite Ireland moving towards a Nanny State, people still have a choice. Lecturing those who smoke is like telling a punter who enjoys a quiet pint not to drink. It is counter-productive in the extreme.

On national No Smoking Day it is fitting to pay tribute to the Irish Heart Foundation for informing those who kicked the habit of the hazards of a lifetime devoted to dragging on a cigarette.