Support for the smoking ban among smokers in Ireland has more than trebled since its implementation in 2004, according to a new survey published on a tobacco-control website.
The International Tobacco Control Ireland/UK research, which was partially funded by grants from the Research Institute for a Tobacco-Free Society in Dublin and Cancer Research UK, surveyed over 1,000 Irish smokers both before and after the ban took effect in March 2004.
The project is an international collaboration of researchers who evaluate the psychological and behavioural effects of national-level tobacco-control policies worldwide.
Participants were asked a number of questions relating to the ban, including perceived enforcement of the new law, levels of support for the ban and the behavioural impact of its implementation, in two 40-minute phone interviews.
Support for the blanket ban across workplaces was recorded at 13 per cent during the baseline pre-legislation survey, but 12 months later, and eight months after the legislation was brought in, that figure had increased to 46 per cent.