Madam, - The Minister for the Environment has voiced concern over the Government's plan to ban smoking in the workplace. He said he was uneasy about a "politically correct" blanket ban, and that he was "closer to Berlin than Boston on smoking". One wonders if, on reflection, Mr Cullen might reconsider his position.
1. While the dogma of "political correctness" may be destroying our ability to express ourselves in plain and explicit language, it has nothing to do with the environmental and health aspects of smoking.
2. For a Minister of the Environment to object to the control of an environmental pollutant is hard for some people to comprehend.
3. Smoking is a major contributor to heart attacks and many cancers, which kill over 15,000 Irish people each year. One half of those who smoke die from it. Smoking is the biggest totally avoidable cause of death and disability known to mankind.
4. Few people have the opportunity, ability and power actually to improve the health of an entire population. Mr Martin, Mr Cullen and other members of the Government enjoy this privilege and responsibility. - Yours, etc.,
IAN M GRAHAM, FESC, FRCPI, Professor of Epidemiology and
Public Health Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin 2.
Madam, - More than 30 years ago, we watched not only films, but live plays, through a haze of smoke.
The banning of smoking in theatres and cinemas did not result in job losses or theatre and cinema closures. Just so with the buses, trains and aircraft that have now become smoke-free: people still take to the road, the rails and the sky.
If Mr Martin's proposals are accepted, eating and drinking in restaurants and pubs will continue. And in another 30 years, the idea of smoking in a restaurant or bar will seem as preposterous as smoking at a live theatre performance does today. - Yours, etc.,
IVY BANNISTER, Morehampton Terrace, Donnybrook , Dublin 4.