Come nell'Eire, anche l'Irlanda del Nord si prepara a vietare il fumo nei locali pubblici.
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NI smoking ban announcement due
A total ban on smoking in all enclosed public places in Northern Ireland is set to be announced tomorrow.
Shaun Woodward, the Health Minister in the province, will make the announcement tomorrow after months of consultation and pressure from those seeking a total ban and those wanting a partial ban.
The Northern Ireland announcement comes as the Cabinet is still deciding how to proceed in England.
But even there, the indication is the ministers are poised to drop earlier plans for a partial ban exempting pubs and bars which do not serve food.
A consultation exercise concluded it would be unworkable and unenforceable.
Mr Woodward is expected to follow the path of the Republic, which introduced a total ban on smoking in the workplace in March 2004.
The minister - himself an ex-smoker - recently visited Dublin and New York to assess how both cities have administered their bans.
Over the summer he revealed the results of a public consultation in Northern Ireland which showed 91% in favour of a total ban.
A ban in all Government departments came into force at the start of this year.
However, the legislation to be announced this week will take until April 2007 to come into effect, a year after that already announced for Scotland.
The Ulster Cancer Foundation said the minister must not take the soft option of a partial ban.
"Shaun Woodward has been given a golden opportunity to drastically improve the health of the people of Northern Ireland," said Gerry McElwee, head of cancer prevention at the foundation.
"The minister's decision could end all smoking in all workplaces and enclosed public places," he said.
He warned: "Fudged proposals such as exemptions for some pubs or separate smoking rooms would fail to protect those workers and members of the public who are at most risk from other people's smoke."
And he said the decision was a make or break for the minister's reputation.
"Does he want to be remembered as the Health Minister who brought in the greatest public health measure for a generation, or as a politician who lost his nerve at the last minute?"
While health campaigners are demanding a total ban, publicans are hoping against hope that Mr Woodward will fudge and take the soft, partial ban, option they advocate.
Nicola Carruthers, chief executive of the Federation of the Retail Licensed Trade, Northern Ireland, said she was making no predictions about what the minister would announce.
"It's so hard to call," she said.
Ms Carruthers added: "What we fear is a complete smoking ban. What we hope is that there is still room for a small compromise."
She said if the Government came forward with any measures which meant people could still smoke somewhere on licensed premises, she would be delighted.
"We just don't want to send people out on to the streets of Northern Ireland to smoke."
She also fears for the future of the pub trade if there is a total ban.
She claimed 400 pubs in the Irish Republic had closed down and 7,500 people had lost their jobs in them since their ban came in.
"Some pubs have reduced opening hours, some publicans in rural areas have been forced to take second jobs. It's only in Dublin where trade has not been badly hit."
The Institute of Public Health, part of Smokefree Northern Ireland, disputed the figures.
Institute director Dr Jane Wilde looked to the annual report of the Office of Tobacco Control in the Irish Republic released last week.
"It states there has been no adverse impact on the hospitality sector. Bar retail sales have increased in volume over the past three months in comparison with the same period last year.
"Numbers employed in this sector were also on the increase. In the first quarter of this year figures show an increase of 1,400 when compared with the last quarter of 2004," she said.
Dr Wilde said the figures - which included a report of 94% compliance with smoke-free legislation - highlighted the continued success of the Irish legislation.
"Similar legislation in Northern Ireland is the only option available if we are to provide equal protection for all.
"We all have a right to a smoke-free environment and the Institute urges the minister to take action now."
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Fonte:
Ulster TV
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