HomeBackground to smoke-free law
The Smoking (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 has been brought in to protect workers and members of the public from second-hand smoke.Second-hand smoke increases your risk of lung cancer, heart disease and stroke.
Similar laws have been introduced in other countries and have proved very popular with smokers and non-smokers alike.
The government also commissioned a major public consultation between December 2004 and March 2005.
They received more than 70,000 responses to a range of questions about smoking in public in Northern Ireland.
Over 90 per cent of those who responded said they would support smoke-free laws, similar to those already in place in Ireland.
