Ireland has more ex-smokers than smokers, according to a story in The Journal citing new research from the Health Service Executive (HSE).
The HSE’s latest Quit campaign has seen the publication of a new survey showing Ireland has more than one million people who have quit smoking.
The Healthy Ireland Survey found that about 22 percent of Irish adults are smokers, with 18 percent smoking on a daily basis and four percent smoking occasionally.
This translates to about 830,000 smokers in Ireland, fewer than the number of quitters.
The rate of smoking is highest in the 25-34 age group and is lowest in the over-75 age group.
The full story is at: http://www.thejournal.ie/quit-smoking-numbers-3779386-Jan2018/
Tag: Ireland
More quitters than smokers
Pride in nanny-award
A Senator has been declared Ireland’s ‘nanny-in-chief’ at a dinner organized by the smokers’ rights group Forest Ireland.
Catherine Noone, who was guest of honor at the inaugural Golden Nanny Awards in Dublin on Monday night, was awarded the accolade for going ‘above and beyond’ other politicians and public health campaigners.
“Our overall winner stands out even in a country that has so many politicians with a nanny-state instinct,” said Keith Redmond, co-founder of the Hibernia Forum think tank, who presented the award. “Senator Noone has gone above and beyond the rest, raising eyebrows even among her nanny-state colleagues.
“She not only supports headline grabbing policies like minimum pricing of alcohol, the booze burka, and plain packaging of tobacco. She has also advocated bans on fast food outlets, proposed a ban on price promotions for chocolate biscuits and even wanted to ban chimes on ice cream vans.”
Accepting her award, Noone said, “Libertarians, contrarians, barbarians, thank you”.
“This is not about telling people what to do, but it is vital that the government raises awareness of how to prevent health issues rather than simply treating them,” she said
Noone later tweeted, “Proud recipient of the Golden Nanny Award 2017 – proud moment”.
Other winners at Monday’s ‘Farewell to Freedom’ dinner included Fine Gael TD [Teachta Dála – member of the lower house] Marcella Corcoran Kennedy ‘for services to plain packaging of tobacco’ and finance minister Paschal Donohoe for introducing the sugar tax.
Senator James Reilly’s crusade against smoking earned the former health minister a ‘lifetime achievement award’ while TV chef and restaurateur Jamie Oliver won the International Golden Nanny award for his ‘puritanical’ campaign against obesity.
John Mallon, spokesman for Forest Ireland, said The Golden Nanny Awards highlighted the explosion of nanny state regulations in Ireland.
“The sugar tax, plain packaging of tobacco and minimum pricing of alcohol are simply the latest examples of excessive and unnecessary government interventions in the lives of ordinary people,” he said.
“People are fed up of being told how to live their lives. Other politicians and NGOs take note otherwise you too could be nominated for an award next year!”
Understanding vaping
The Global Forum on Nicotine is organising a series of public dialogues in Ireland and England under the title ‘Understanding Vaping’.
The dialogues are described as being free-to-attend, short, focussed events designed to enable interactive discussion and debate.
They are due to be held on October 24, October 31 and November 2. Each will start at 14:00 and end by 17:00.
The dialogues are aimed at tackling a range of issues surrounding the increasing use of nicotine products, including electronic cigarettes, whose use is less risky than is that of traditional tobacco cigarettes and that provide a viable alternative to smoking.
They are aimed also at involving public health professionals, academics and scientists, policy makers, consumers, the owners and managers of premises, and members of the public.
The first dialogue in this series is scheduled to be held on October 24 in Dublin, Ireland. It will be hosted by the Irish Vape Vendors Association and will include:
- Gillian Golden (Irish Vape Vendors Association, Ireland);
- Professor David Sweanor (University of Ottawa, Canada);
- Dr Dominic Rowley (Health STI Clinic, Ireland); and
- Martin Dockrell (Public Health England, UK).
The second dialogue is scheduled to be held on October 31 in London, England. It will be hosted by the London Drug and Alcohol Policy Forum and will include:
- Dr Penelope Bevan CBE (director, Public Health for the City of London, UK), who will chair the session;
- Helen Redmond (Silver School of Social Work, New York University, USA); and
- Louise Ross (Leicester Stop Smoking Service, UK).
The third dialogue is scheduled to be held on November 2 in Durham, England. It will be hosted by Vapourtrails TV and will include:
- David Dorn (New Nicotine Alliance and VTTV, UK);
- Jacques le Houezec (president, #SOVAPE, France); and
- Professor Gerry Stimson (programme director of the Global Forum on Nicotine).
Information on the dialogues is at: https://gfn.net.co/dialogues/autumn2017.
Discussing vaping locally
The organisers of the Global Forum on Nicotine are due to stage later this year three local dialogues; one in Ireland and two in England.
Earlier this year they held two dialogues in England and one in Scotland (https://gfn.net.co//dialogues-archive/2017-spring/videos).
The organisers say that the headline topic for the new series of dialogues is ‘Understanding Vaping’, though in each location the topic will be approached from a different angle.
The dialogues are to be held on:
- October 24, at the O’Callaghan Davenport Hotel, 8-10 Merrion Street Lower, Dublin, Ireland;
- October 31, in the Marketing Suite, the Guildhall, Basinghall Street, City of London, England; and
- November 2, at Crook Hall & Gardens, Frankland Lane, Sidegate, Durham, England.
All the events will start at 14.00 and end by 17.00.
They are free to attend, though registration is required at: https://gfn.net.co/dialogues/register.
Further information is available at: https://gfn.net.co/dialogues.
An Irish cigar in the making
Photo by naamanus A businessman who is growing tobacco in Ireland is hoping that cigars made from his leaf will be on sale next year, according to a story by Declan O’Brien for the Irish Independent.
Harry Everard of Kilsheelan, County Tipperary, has secured a license from the Revenue Commissioners for growing and handling tobacco, and has produced two crops to date, one in 2015 and one in 2016.
While most tobacco, especially cigar tobacco, is grown in warmer climates than Ireland’s, Everard says the crop thrives in Irish conditions.
Indeed, Exclusive Cigar Manufacturers of Ireland (ECMI) in Ballaghaderreen, County Roscommon, have already produced a batch of cigars from Everard’s tobacco that were sampled by industry connoisseurs.
Everard was quoted as saying that the results of those samplings were very positive and had given the project a massive boost.
Not that he ever doubted that tobacco could be grown in Ireland. Although born and reared in England, his great, great, grandfather, Sir Nugent Everard, pioneered the cultivation of the crop at his estate outside Navan, County Meath, in the late 19th century.
Everard said that the crops grown in 2015 and 2016 both did “very well”, but that they were “not without issues”.
“I have proven at this stage that it is possible to grow good quality tobacco in Ireland,” he said. “The challenge now is to make this a viable and feasible business.”
Everard, who managed a chain of 15 bars and restaurants in London before moving to Ireland with his family, maintains that an outlet exists for cigars manufactured in Ireland from home-produced tobacco.
“I feel there is a niche market out there, especially among the Irish abroad, for a quality cigar made with Irish tobacco,” he said.
“I would like to think we will supply our first cigars to this market by mid-2018.”
The full story is at: http://www.independent.ie/business/farming/tillage/tipp-farmer-with-ambitions-to-produce-premium-cigars-from-tobacco-grown-in-ireland-35353881.html
Ireland embraces plain packaging
Ireland may become the second country to require standardized packaging for cigarettes, reports the Kildare Nationalist.
Health Minister James Reilly announced government approval for his controversial plans, which he hopes to have enacted early next year. Plain packaging made its global debut late last year in Australia.
An Irish retail group cautioned the move would help criminals and fuel cigarette smuggling. Retailers Against Smuggling accused the minister of “not giving a damn” about independent retailers. Tobacco companies claimed plain packaging would do more harm to the economy by making smuggling easier rather than stopping children from taking up the habit.
Reilly said while many arguments will be made against the move, he is confident the legislation will be justified and supported purely by the fact that it will save lives.
Ireland has been at the forefront of tobacco control. It was the world’s first country to enforce a workplace smoking ban, which included pubs and restaurants, in March 2004, and the first EU country to remove all tobacco advertising from retail outlets.
