30% increase in smokers supporting ban - survey

Support for the smoking ban is 30 per cent higher among smokers since its implementation in 2004 according to a new survey from the journal Tobacco Control.

The survey found that support for the ban in restaurants increased from 45 to 77 per cent among smokers while the ban in pubs saw support increase from 13 per cent to 46 per cent.

The figures also showed that smokers are 50 per cent more likely to quit following the ban.

The survey was completed by over 1,000 Irish smokers before and after the ban took affect in March 2004.

It found a high level of satisfaction among smokers with the ban with over 80 per cent of smokers saying it was either a "good" or "very good" thing.

Meanwhile, a separate study by the same journal found that smokers who supported the ban were more likely to ban smoking in their own homes and more likely to try to quit.