Sir, - It is not surprising that so many young Irish are taking up the foolish habit. Cigarettes can be acquired with ease. No young person seriously fears a store sign such as "we don't sell smokes to people in school uniform". In the queues in which I wait, not once has a school-aged person been refused a packet of cigarettes.
As visitor to your country, I have the unfortunate impression that smoking is as embraced and accepted as part of Irish socialising as the black fluid. In my country, Australia, smoking is banned in most enclosed, public spaces including restaurants, shopping centres, airports, bus and train stations. Also, serious public health campaigns and law suits against the effects of passive smoking are helping to clear the air.
Surely if the Department of Health is serious about getting people to quit, it could start by banning smoking in enclosed public places and enforcing the ban. We non-smokers should be able to use public spaces without having to duck clouds of blue smoke. - Yours, etc.,
Paris Lord, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.