Madam, - Smoking poisons the environment, yet the Minister for the Environment, Martin Cullen, opposes the ban on smoking in pubs proposed by his fellow Minister and already endorsed by the Taoiseach. He sneers at it as "political correctness" and says he prefers to be "irreverent". Irreverent about what? About saving lives? About cancer, heart disease and the slavery of addiction?
The campaign against smoking is comparable to the campaign against tuberculosis led by Dr Noel Browne in the 1940s, and to the current world-wide campaign against AIDS. If we love humankind, if we hate cancer and heart disease, then everyone, smokers and non-smokers, should fight smoking in whatever way we can. - Yours, etc.,
KEN KEABLE, Kilclooney, Co Waterford.
Madam, - Jennifer Garahy (August 22nd), explaining the problems a smoking ban could cause for agoraphobics and social phobics, says "social phobics are afraid of crowded places and meeting people". Surely they should be happy with the proposed ban, as according to the publicans, all the pubs will be nearly empty! - Yours, etc.,
PATRICK DINNEEN, Mervue, Galway.