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INDEPENDENT TDS MICK Wallace and Clare Daly are back before court in Ennis later today.
The pair are contesting charges that they entered a restricted zone in Shannon in July of last year.
The two politicians were summonsed to appear in court following an incident on 22 July where they attempted to inspect two US military aircraft the airport.
Appearing in Ennis District Court last December, their solicitor said they intended to fully contest the charges.
The case is due to get underway today, and a number of witnesses will be called to give testimony.
The two Dáil deputies have been regular campaigners on the issue of US military use of Shannon.
A statement from peace activists Shannonwatch said they had “made it clear that as legislators and as citizens they have a responsibility to uphold Irish neutrality”.
Wallace said in a statement that they had “gone to great efforts to raise this issue in the Dáil”.
Former Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore and former Minister for Justice Alan Shatter repeatedly said to us to produce the evidence, and that is what we have attempted to do.
“It is pretty clear to most people that the use of Shannon by the US military who are engaged in several wars, who occupy sovereign states illegally and commit war crimes, is something that this State needs to put a stop to because this has gone on for far too long.”
‘Definitive evidence’
Daly said they believed there was “very definitive evidence to say that our airport is being used to facilitate the US war machine and we don’t believe that it is something in the interests of the Irish people”.
“We will be rigorously defending this. We don’t believe that we did anything wrong at Shannon.
We actually believe that we were doing what we should be doing.
Shannonwatch’s John Lannon said the two TDs had highlighted “the ongoing serious nature of Irish support for the US war machine to the people of Ireland, and have put pressure on the government to ensure they live up to their responsibilities under national and international law”.
In his latest official response to questions on the issue from Deputy Wallace, Defence Minister Simon Coveney said that permission for foreign military aircraft to land in Ireland was governed by strict conditions.
“These include stipulations that the aircraft must be unarmed, carry no arms, ammunition or explosives and must not engage in intelligence gathering, and that the flights in question must not form part of military exercises or operations.
“Requests to permit the landing of foreign military aircraft are considered by the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade on the basis of these conditions. Permission is not granted for the conduct of foreign military operations in Irish airspace.”
In a statement, Wallace confirmed that he would be representing himself at the proceedings.
Daly will be represented by Gareth Noble of the KOD Lyons Human Rights Law firm.
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The tobacco companies are putting a whole lot of effort into opposing something they say won’t work anyway. I don’t think it’s out of the goodness of their heart either…
You’ve to wounder don’t you?
If they say it’ll change nothing, then whats the harm in doing it anyway?
Clearly they know its a game changer
You know they’re grasping at straws when they have a quote from Angela Merkel on the site:
“For an exporting country such as Germany, protecting intellectual property rights is of outstanding importance. In my opinion, we have found an acceptable compromise by introducing pictorial warnings.”
I don’t think Angela Merkel is going to sway too many Irish people’s opinions!
They my be opposing it for their own reasons but they are right in saying that it will increase the amount of counterfeit cigarettes sold. One of the best ways they had of combating counterfeits was by changing the packaging from time to time making easier to spot counterfeits.
The counterfeit argument doesn’t hold up. Using that logic, everything sold on the black market should be legal.
If tobacco companies oppose it, I’m all for it. Simples.
Really Shane – aren’t “counterfit cigarettes” just the same cancer killers as the tax paid version ?
They are all a disaster to any smokers ( or humans near them ) health !
My thoughts exactly Martin.
They are saying it won’t impact smoking as the black market grows, but will impact them directly.
Just because Big Tobacco oppose plain packs doesn’t mean it’s a good thing. They are correct in saying it makes mass counterfeiting easier.
“Aren’t “counterfit cigarettes” just the same cancer killers as the tax paid version?”
– No. They can often be more poisonous to the user. More importantly, black market cigs are sold without age restrictions, without tax and the large profits go to organised crime leading to further societal problems.
The vast majority of black market cigs are not counterfeit, they are the exact same product as sold in shops just sourced from lower tax jurisdictions. The whole poisonous counterfeit fags made by scrupulous Asian gangsters is just a very transparent scare tactic to discourage people buying on the black market. Also, tobacco companies don’t care if cigs are bought in shops or on the streets beyond maybe local management, their cut is the same. It is only the exchequer who loses out.
Exactly
“The vast majority of black market cigs are not counterfeit”
My point was that the vast majority of counterfeit cigs are sold on the black market not the other way around. The over-regulation may end up doing more harm than good at this point. Cigs are already overtaxed making them ideal for black market supply.
Maybe plain packaging will work, but at this point, given all the campaigns, age regulations, ads, education, etc. further regulation might just end up turning more people to cheap, non-regulated, black market cigs. Creating suppliers who don’t age discriminate, who also provide high-tar cheap knockoffs and are generally gangs involved in violent & organised crime.
It’d be easier to smuggle them in if they all look the same..
I’m a smoker, and must confess I thought the plain packaging proposal was quite pointless. However, to see the resistance to it by the industry would seem to indicate that it is effective. If, as is being claimed on the above mentioned website and by the interested parties who made submissions to an dail, there is no evidence that this will reduce smoking rates or children taking smoking, then why such a concerted campaign opposing the measure? If it really makes no difference then they wouldn’t care and wouldn’t oppose it so strongly.
Methinks the lady doth protest too much!
They’ve spent many years and lots of money building recognisable brands, I’d say the loss of that brand is what concerns them.
One major point of concern for sure for the cigarette companies is that their individual share & profit in the market will fall as plain packaging will not influence the new potential smokers.
The Tobacco industry is scared, they are very scared that their product which has killed millions will eventually be banned in Ireland in say the next 20-30 years if this packaging change goes ahead.
Lets face it, this is an industry that found proof that their product killed its users but they hide this evidence for decades and denied their product had any such affects,.
These company’s care nothing about the government, users of their products or cancer victims there product has affected, they only care about cold hard cash.
Their “smoke yourself thin” website is not much better.
What do people get out of smoking?when you drink you get drunk,when you eat you get full.only thing your doing when smoking is killing yourself slowly
Well a corpse tends not to gain weight.
You get sexy that’s what!
@Jeremy
Agree. It’s always hard to believe “facts” from someone trying to sell you an addictive carcinogen.
Mmm, nothing more sexy than clothes, hair and breath reeking of stale tobacco. Seriously though, I used to smoke and when you smoke you can never smell how bad it smells. The minute you stop and your sense of smell comes back a common thing to discover is that smokers reek but just don’t know it, and you realise you used to smell that bad yourself!
And what is sexy about something that reduces the blood supply to certain parts of the body and is implicated in erectile dysfunction???
They have poisoned us long enough..it days alot for society and the world when we poison ourselves for profit..its ridiculous the more you think about it
No the tobacco companies do not poison anyone, the smokers poison themselves
Yeah, them 12 year old kids deserve to get cancer. They should know better.
“Yeah, them 12 year old kids deserve to get cancer. They should know better.”
They should actually. Education should begin as early as possible.
Obviously as a teenager you are gullible and you do NOT know better – that is why we must not let those bast**ds market at our young people or have access to them – they know they have to hook so many children every day to keep their profits up. Why should we let them get away with it? I nearly think tobacco should be seen like a drug that you have to buy in restricted places where young people are not allowed…
no “real-world” evidence that plain packaging on cigarettes would bring about a decline in children taking up smoking. So what’s the problem? Plain packaging with be cheaper more profits. Happy days everyone’s a winner!!!
The plain facts about cigarettes are if used as manufacturer intends, they kill end of argument.
It would be awesome if cigarettes was banned.
Absolutely Phunkyboy, we should be the first nation on the planet to do it.
Ignore the nanny/police state/underground criminal arguments that were there for the pub ban and save future generations from misery and slavery of this pestilence.
Wish it was banned
People`s addiction would continue which would lead to a huge increase in black market trading and crime from illegal tobacco sales. Money would be put in the hands of criminals and not to our government. Crime of other sorts would increase from the criminals new found wealth. Adulterated tobacco would be sold with worse health effects. Thousands would be made criminals over night.Thousands would continue to be put in hospital from tobacco related illnesses which would cripple the health service`s budget seen as all the tax money would be in criminal hands and not the governments.
Illegality of any drug does not work. It`s much safer and beneficial for everyone involved to have a legal, regulated product than an illegal product.
This is complete and utter nonsense! “illegality of any drug does not work”? So heroin should be legal? There would be an increase in the black market which is why I said the infrastructure to deal with this would need to be improved/increased. How would thousands be made criminals over night? Are you sure you know how the legislative procedure in this country works? How bills become legislation? It isn’t an overnight process. There would be plenty of time for people to quit and this would provide added incentive. You may well go back and have a long hard think about what you have said, or go re-read what ever socialist left wing magazine influenced your thoughts and wonder is it really doing you any good?
Agree Simon. And I’d be very wary of anybody advocating otherwise. Vested interests.
Well, banning things doesn’t work. Lots of drugs are illegal in Ireland, but I’d say it wouldn’t be too hard to get your hands on some grass, or heroin in a few hours if you wanted to.
Countries where they have decriminalised drugs have found that it leads to less social problems. In countries where heroin is provided by the state (Switzerland and the Netherlands), the crime rate associated with heroin use is minimal.
There’s an interesting article in the economist recently – I’m not sure if anyone would describe it as a socialist magazine..
Smoking will continue to decline, as it becomes more socially unacceptable. Banning it seems a bit extreme, as it would be pretty easy to cross the border and smuggle a pack or two
Hi,
No left wing socialist magazines I’m afraid. I’m actually a scientist with a special interest in phytochemicals and pharmacognosy.
As for heroin, yes, that too should be made legal.
You seem to be familiar with legislation so you should know that legality of a substance doesn’t mean it is going to be sold on every corner.
Regulation can be put in place to make the sale of it restricted to clinics and treatment centres.
Addicts who are suffering from the disease of addiction could get their heroin and slowly come off the drug in safe, supervised conditions.
Again, money would be taken out of criminal hands and put them out of the heroin trade. Users would get a safe product and also other health and safety issues such as sharing of needles would be addressed.
As a bonus, more revenue from the government and also stimulate the economy from creating jobs at the manufacturing and supply level.
Legality also removes restrictions involved in research of such drugs so cures and treatments can be developed easier.
Illegality of any drug does not work.
The vested interest I have is health and safety of all persons. See my above comments.
“There is absolutely no credible evidence that ‘plain’ packaging has had positive health impacts in Australia, or would have any in Ireland…15 months following the introduction of plain packaging in Australia, there is still no official Government assessment to say that plain packaging has reduced smoking rates.”
A slimey PR word play statement trying to suggest that plain packaging does not work when what is meant is that it is unknown.
Translation: The research in Australia has not been done yet.
Sick of cigarettes. Went and bought one of those vaporisers today. Will have to wait and see how it goes I suppose but can’t be any worse than inhaling poison day after day.
Can ASH Ireland be considered a charity group? More of a lobbyist group I’d say.
I was once asked for a packet of cigarettes in my shop by a woman. When I gave her the box, she says ‘no love,can I get one with a better picture?’
I smoke, I quit in 2012 while I was off alcohol for a couple of months. As soon as the alcohol got flowing again so did the smokes. So now I only smoke when I drink really. I have the odd smoke during the week, after a meal or something like that. I would love it if the Government outlawed smoking for good. A complete ban on cigarettes. What other drug that kills so many is so widely available? While banning of cigarettes would hit the public finances, Ireland generates about 2bn in revenue though V.A.T. and excise duty from cigarettes, there would be a massive saving on the cost of treating those with tabacco related illnesses. Indeed it is estimated that nearly all of the revenue generated is spent on such treatment. As such, no cigarettes would leave us roughly at break even on finance and with a much healthier nation. Sure we would have to deal with smuggling etc but we already have the infrastructure in place to deal with this, just needs to be increased. It would also free up doctors, nurses and beds to deal with other patients…
@simon in answer to your question “what other drug kills so many and is so widely available?”
Id say alcohol would give tobacco a fair run for its money plus you have all the other societal issues associated with alcohol that dont come with the fags eg its contributary factor in nearly half of all murders in the states. should we ban alcohol too based on this evidence?
Patrick, Alcohol does have its problems for sure, and there should and ought to be controls in place,
But Alcohol and Cigarettes are not really comparable
- Alcohol is nowhere near as physically addictive to most people as is nicotine.
- Alcohol in moderation is not so harmful, nothing compared to cigarettes
- Alcohol, used responsibly does have some utility for people in social groups.
- Alcohol used responsibly has utility in terms of taste and enjoyment (a good wine with ice food, nice craft beer)
Cigarettes used in moderation are still very harmful, and nicotine is highly, highly addictive, – heroin would be a more apt comparison.
Would you really Patrick? Based on what evidence? Alcohol Ireland claims there are 88 alcohol related deaths every month in Ireland. This equates to circa 1,000 deaths per year. There are over 7,000 smoking related deaths in Ireland each year. But yes your spot on, a run for it’s money alright, if you count smoking killing 7 times more people as a “run for it’s money”…..Back to the drawing board there Patrick….
Seriously! If someone started smoking because the pack looks nice, cool etc., that person should have their IQ checked and also assessed if he/she is capable of making responsible decisions….
Marketting and brand image works, otherwise they wouldn’t bother doing it.
I think Mr o’reilly would be better served in scrapping this pointless exercise, and lowering tax for those people who are smart enough to want to live without addictions
Somebody is going to make a fortune selling fancy new cigarette box covers , I can’t see it making a difference . I smoke , wish it was easier to quit but it’s not , I would love it if they would ban them completely , wouldn’t be bothered with the contraband type . On the previous comment about being skinny , yes I agree its definitely easier not to eat when you can have a cigarette instead , if I ever give them up I’ll be the size of a small elephant :( . The tobacco companies probably don’t want to have to incur the extra cost of having to change their printing processes , I’m sure thats not cheap .
Martina I sympathise as I used to be an addict myself! However, I am not so sure about the smoking to keep thin business – you do see an awful lot of very fat smokers I have to say!
I have a teenager and anything we can do, despite our own habits, to stop them buying tobacco is worth the effort – the tobacco companies know they have to get new teenage smokers to keep their profits and they are worried about the plain packaging – that is good enough for me… even as a smoker I thought they should make them so expensive that no teenager could afford them!
I quit smoking about two weeks ago. Its very difficult. But what has struck me the most in those two weeks is the amount of smokers everywhere i go.
They are everywhere. If i dont see them smoke i can smell it from them when theyre near. Im astonished by the numbers i had never noticed before. These companies will get by despite this terrible hardship……..
I only have sympathy for their victims.
If you are a smoker you will smoke regardless of the packaging and a cigarette case can be purchased if the pictures are grossing you out, the only thing that will stop a smoker from smoking is if they decide themselves that they really and truly want to quit.
If kids decide to start smoking it isn’t the packaging that tempts them its because they think its a cool and rebellious thing to do, anything that adults are against them doing is usually the first thing they want to do and more often than not their friends or someone they fancy/look up too are smoking and they want to be cool or impress . The only time packaging plays any part in kids smoking is when their deciding what brand they want to smoke themselves.
You’re so simple Pauline
In what way Driv Elmachine?
Because you don’t know anything about why people begin smoking and what consequences plain packaging will have.
Are you a smoker?
Ex
Why did you start smoking in the first place?
Because I liked the smell and I liked the taste!
That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that reason used. Any smokers I know myself included started for the reasons I outlined above.
Cause you wanted to be cool and impress people??! Oh Pauline. Poor Pauline.
I thought it was cool, young and silly! As my dad says… Youth is wasted on the young.
Having a teenager and noticing his friends that have smoked since early teens, they are very brand conscious. The thing that would restrict them most and help them not to start would be the cost – money is an issue for teenagers! We also need to clamp down big time on the newsagents that knowingly sell tobacco to under-18-year-olds. I know you can get your big brother to buy it but it is far more hassle that way and they would definitely smoke less if there were not unscrupulous people selling it to them.
So really let’s do anything that will make a difference. People who are addicted will obviously be fearful of restrictions or a raise in cost – I know, I used to be one of those people! So listening to smokers is like consulting turkeys about Christmas dinner. We have to do all we can to stop younger people smoking, and to make life hard for the sinister tobacco companies who wish to target our children.
I think those pictures on those “plain” packets are tasteless and tacky. They’re disgusting too.
I don’t smoke and I never will and I really don’t want to see those gross pics around the place.
Leave the cigarette packets alone.
I think thats the whole point Jack, so more people won’t “want to see those gross pics around the place.”, preferrably more smokers
I am all for plain packaging. Plain as in plain. All white.
Do not agree with the pictures.
You have to hammer the point home.
Shock value is important.
I doubt one single person will stop smoking due to the possibility of getting gangrene on your feet.
I agree. It probably won’t work for those already hooked but, it may help to stop young impressionable females starting to smoke. I heard a stat on The Last Word the other day that the smoking manufacturers need 50 new people a day to start smoking to keep their sales at current levels. Anything at all the gov can do to stop this underhand targeting of young kids is definitely worth a try in my opinion.
Irish red – why just young impressionable females?
Because young females are the only segment where smoking is on the increase.
^^ what Ben said (thanks!)
Oh right. This statistic fails to take several factors into account. Many men begin smoking in this country every year. And I wouldn’t be so quick to call smokers or young people impressionable.
Anyone can get gangrene in their feet anyway with or without smoking if they’ve bad circulation or a weak immune system. These pictures are just going to upset everyone.
Most throat and mouth cancers are caused by exposure to common viruses and not smoking. The proposed pictures are really going to upset the families and the people battling these cancers.
Jack, since so much cancer is smoking related, I think any family with a family member with cancer would be thrilled to see anything that would put people off smoking and getting cancer from it.
To say that most throat and mouth cancers are not smoking related seems wrong to me – where do you get your figures?
I’ve tobacco share so keep smoking idiots :D
Yet no proper ability with English it would seem.
Packaging makes no odds at all. Doesnt matter whats on the box, a smoker will smoke until they come to a decision to quit or suffer healthwise. I know, believe me. Im on the e-cig just over 2 weeks, going great so far, my sis is a month off them, she inspired me to make the decision. Wish more people i know would try it. We are putting the money we would be spending away for a trip to N.Y.C. together. #vapersnotsmokers
I too stopped smoking – cold turkey method! I have a teenager and any restriction we can put on tobacco to stop them starting is welcome to me… if the cigarette companies seem so scared of plain packaging, then go for it – they are a cynical bunch who only want to gain more teenage nicotine addicts every day to keep their profits up.
Scary website? Yellow and grey overtones. Yikes. If it is anything like that fellow with the picture of the gangrenous foot, I for one will not be looking into it.
As an ex – smoker i feel more needs to be done in regards getting people to stop smoking and preventing them to start in the first place.
But sorry no young children should be subjected to these disgusting pictures.
They are only subjected to them if they or their parents purchase them in the 1st place.
No purchase and the precious kids have nothing to fear.
No they will see them on the street where a lot of packets are usually dumped.
Well then maybe adults should not expose children to adult content? begrudgy, your argument is invalid.
Another invalid argument, littering is already an offence.
Your argument is absolutely tenuous. Anyway, such disgusting pictures might give them a decent reality check as to the damage of smoking from an early age, and might not be a bad thing.
is that O’Reilly’s foot in the picture?
His cloven hoof.
They quote Anna Soubry saying there’s no evidence plain packaging works. Well here’s another one of her quotes
“Mrs Soubry warned that “many” young people take up smoking because of branding.” The revenue & customs and the Gardai have both said they do not believe plain packaging will be a problem.
The Dominican(Banana(Tobacco)) republic can invade if they have a problem with it….
I don’t see the point of the government bring in plain packaging. If they are truly against tobacco companies then ban cigarettes. We can’t slam cigarette companies about how bad they are and take profit from it.
They’ll ban the cool camel. Then they’ll rethink their stupidity. Then they’ll ban sans serif
http://economixcomix.com/home/tpp/
Philip Morris have sued Australia for breaching a free trade agreement…companies can sue countries. Yes. Indeed. They could do the same with Ireland..
Interesting presentation..PM about 3/4 of way down.
Interesting presentation overall
Let them sue then.
I watched the Oireachtas Committee on the TV about this very thing, and the CEO and Chairman of the Law Society were absolutely lambasted by the committee members. It seems they put in a submission, where they were not asked to and where they have not put in submissions on many other matters down through the years that were health related, but not related to companies making a profit. One of the committee members noted that one of the Law Society’s Intellectual Property Rights specialist staff members was an ex-employee of a tobacco company, but the Law Society denied that they decided to put in a submission out of anything but the purest motives to help the state – despite the fact that their ‘helpful’ submission did not mention at all the ways in which the state could resist an action against them by the big tobacco companies. It was very interesting viewing indeed. Some committee members were of the view that the overriding public health and public good interest could legally be said to trump the tobacco companies’ pleas of damage to their intellectual property rights.
Bring it on.
Nothing this guy Reilly has done has improved the situation.
Increased taxes have not worked.
The black market is bigger than ever.
More and more young people rolling their own. I’m no doctor but I’d say there not the healthy choice!
It’s time he did something in the “Common Good” not just increase the government tax returns!!!
Common good? You mean leave the IMO and the pharmaceutical corporations to pop a couple of pills a day? What you are suggesting may be deigned politically incorrect by the politically correct lobby of faithful shareholders and mammon worshippers of Ireland Inc.
Instead of reilly concentrating his efforts on this ..sort out the HSE and the problems that Nurses and Doctors are having first….then put more effort into curtailing the smuggling of cigarettes ….
I think it’s ott regulation. Mc Donalds, Nestlé and Tayto better be lobbying hard against this since the ban sugar, fat and salt brigade will be out to plain package their products next. I say respect people’s right to choose for themselves.
Grainne, there will be nothing to stop smokers from continuing to buy this poisonous product (I say this as an ex-smoker!)… but anything we can do to stop young teenagers from being targeted is a good thing, don’t you think? McDonald’s and Tayto are much different, come on… you can eat a McDonald’s once a week and still not die from it. Once you get the smoking habit you will be addicted and may have a lifetime of huge expense and ill health and early death. Very different things altogether.
My point is that if we are to force one industry into plain packaging on the basis that their products can kill then where does it end? We might as well ban car adverts since if you drive a car then you could die. It’s ridiculous ott regulation. In terms of addiction, sugar fat and salt are just as addictive and harmful to some people. It’s about education and awareness not about packaging.
What’s the point in bringing in plain packaging. As a smoker myself whether the packaging is plain or not isn’t going to affect my decision to smoke. People are hardly going to quit because their cigarette boxes aren’t pretty anymore.
Plain packaging makes it much more difficult for cigarette manufacturers to differentiate their products. With the ban on advertising and display showcasing packaging and pricing is all that is left.
Make plain packing mandatory and all that is left is pricing.
Well if it is not going to have any effect then why are they fighting it so hard??? Think of future generations please. There has to be a way to let current people with an addiction continue to buy this drug while protecting our young people who can now walk into a newsagent and get tobacco, despite this being against the law. They need to be much more restricted for the sake of our young people. I am sure as a smoker you don’t want to see young people getting caught into this trap, which once addicted will cost them a fortune, ruin their health and likely kill them???
Why not ban cigarettes…then problem solved. Otherwise if this stance is taken against a legal substance shouldn’t then shouldn’t the same stance be taken against products containing alcohol? And other products containing nicotine (chewing gums, lozenges etc..)?
Becuase there is money to be made.
Interesting quoted sources reporting to the WTO. Over 50% of Malawi’s exports are tobacco products and the Dominican Republican and Cuba are the words leading cigar producers. Kind of says it all really.
Bring in the plain packs. My black market supplier has been having too much trouble getting his stock in lately. …. he needs all the help he can get and I don’t want to go back to paying €10.20 a pack when I get them for €5.50 from him.
If the plain packets have no impact on sales why did they set up a website against the plain packaging? Propaganda, me thinks!
I’m hoping your simplistic views are a minority. Here is the kicker. Do heroine addicts say no to junk if it comes in a tescos plastic bag?
I’m failing to see your point! Do you think that I’m wrong and that the cigarettes companies ‘research’ is valid? Is plain packaging the wrong way to go and the website set up against it a ‘public interest’ website?
Should packaging be brightly coloured and have caricatures on them?
Which cigarette company do you work for exactly?
Gavin we are trying to stop young people from stopping smoking – anything that can be done in that direction is a good thing. Many smokers also stop smoking – I am one of them. Why should we facilitate these evil people selling a product that is only horrendously toxic with no high or benefit whatsoever, and furthermore doing their utmost to create a new market from our vulnerable young people. Do everything I say to stop them being available and to stop them being marketed or looking cool or whatever. Time will tell what effect plain packaging will have on sales. I imagine the tobacco industry do a lot of research into the whole area of the psychology of tobacco purchasing and they do seem very against plain packaging, don’t they?
It’s simple if the tobacco industry are against it, then I’m for it.
James Reilly is a fat pr!ck.
Instead of stopping kids from smoking we should discipline them and prevent them from being insufferable brats.
Evil people. If they feel it won’t have any effect, then why are they fighting it so hard?
And the idea it will lead to more illegal cigarettes being sold is a red herring since we know and they know that tobacco companies flood the markets in developing countries with their own brand cigarettes, in the full knowledge that those will be imported into countries like Ireland and sold illegally on the streets. This was brought up in a very interesting Oireachtas Committee debate I saw on the TV where the point was made that the illegal cigarettes sold on Irish streets are not made by some randomer in a hut in another country – they are made by the very same international tobacco giants for sale in those countries, and then imported illegally into Ireland.
They have every angle covered when it comes to making a profit from legally or illegally sold cigarettes in this country. Their real fear is that it will reduce smoking – otherwise why would they be fighting it?
Anything that stops our young people with their pure young lungs from being targeted by these cynical bas***ds should be done. I with they would go further and make cigarettes only available in tobacconists where young people were not allowed to enter. Young people who do not even look anything like 18 are openly buying cigarettes and tobacco in this country from newsagents who only care about their profits, despite it being illegal.
We must protect more generations getting targeted and hooked on this pernicious weed. I say this as an ex-smoker who still struggles with it.
Here’s an oversized James Reilly http://www.smoke-screenz.com/wp-content/uploads/3dimage/cases/20496/3d.jpg
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