There was unanimous praise for Ireland's ban on smoking in the workplace and a call from all parties for a similar ban in Britain at the closing session of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body yesterday.
A suggestion that the former minister for health, Mr Micheál Martin, could be a candidate for a Nobel prize was relayed to members.
One after another, Irish members - deputies Ms Cecilia Keaveney, Mr Seymour Crawford, Mr Paschal Mooney and Dr Jimmy Devins, and Senator Geraldine Feeney - sang the praises of the initiative and urged delegates from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to introduce similar legislation.
Ms Keaveney said it had been suggested to her by an Australian that Mr Martin should get the Nobel prize because of the huge impact his strategy had on world health.
It was working well in Ireland and was policed by the general public so there wasn't an argument about enforcement. The Irish were now used to clean air, she said, and they all noticed a stink when they got up in Chepstow on Monday morning.
While some women were embarrassed at having to stand outside pubs to have a cigarette, there was a lot more good than negative in the ban. "Don't study it to death - just do what we did," she said.
Senator Feeney said it gave her a certain amount of satisfaction as an Irishwoman to be in Wales telling British parliamentarians "do what we do, we know best".
Mr Crawford said he didn't agree with Mr Martin getting the Nobel prize, for other reasons, but he was in favour of the ban which he said should have been brought in on an all-Ireland basis.
If the UK introduced it, they should make sure it had all-party support as it had in Ireland, he added.
Dr Devins urged the British to introduce the ban but warned of the powerful opposition they would face from the cigarette companies.