A new anti smoking campaign launches as publicans continue to look for a compromise to smoking ban.
A new anti-smoking campaign was launched by the Minister for Health Micheál Martin along with acrobats from Fossetts Circus.
The initiative includes a series of television ads highlighting the dangers of smoking which are not for the faint-hearted. A smoking helpline funded by the Department of Health will help smokers quit the habit. The National Smokers Quitline can be reached at 1850 201 203.
The National Smoking Quitline will be open from eight o'clock in the morning until ten o'clock at night seven days a week.
The Department of Health is expecting about 700 calls a day during the promotional campaign.
With the ban on smoking in the workplace due to come into effect in the new year, Micheál Martin rejected suggestions that a compromise could be reached with publicans. The minister says the idea of providing smoke-free areas in pubs in place of an all-out ban is not realistic. The suggestions being put forward would basically mean that pubs would continue to operate as they are.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 30 October 2003. The reporter is Sinéad Crowley.
