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Smoking causes 100 deaths and more than 1000 hospital admissions in Ireland every week

A quarter of all men and 20% of women in Ireland smoke.

SMOKING IS THE cause of 100 deaths and more than 1,000 hospital admissions in Ireland every week, according to research from the HSE.

The study found that, while the number of smokers has been decreasing, one in four men and one in five women still smoke and smoking is now most common among young adults.

Dr Stephanie O’Keeffe, national director of Strategic Planning and Transformation at the HSE, said the findings indicate that young people are starting smoking at a later age.

Young people who smoke were also found to experience poorer physical and mental health.

The Minister of State with responsibility for Health Promotion, Catherine Byrne, said that tobacco related diseases are responsible for 6,000 deaths in Ireland every year:

The message is clear; these are preventable deaths. From the moment you stop smoking, you greatly reduce your risk of serious disease.

The Irish Pharmacy Union says that, while the rate of smoking in Ireland has fallen, it is still higher than many other countries around the world. The union is calling for Nicotine Replacement Therapy to be made available to medical card holders.

“It is clear we need to think differently about how we support people to quit smoking. The majority of smokers want to quit, however many do not know where to start or feel discouraged if they have had a lapse,” Caitriona O’Riordan, of the IPU, said.

The figures were released to mark World No Tobacco Day. A new World Health Organisation report found that the reduction in tobacco use around the world isn’t meeting globally agreed targets.

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    Mute O'Reilly
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    Jun 16th 2014, 7:57 AM

    Fair play to them…

    133
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    Mute Martin Ryan
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    Jun 16th 2014, 8:29 AM

    Every bit as important as the nurse or doctor the utmost respect should be shown to cleaners doing the jobs no one else wants to, or thinks they are to good for.

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    Mute Joseph Siddall
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    Jun 16th 2014, 8:34 AM

    If the Marketing Dept didn’t show up for a week, virtually no-one would notice. If the cleaners didn’t, the whole company would know about it.
    They’re real people doing a job. Be nice to ‘em.

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    Mute Shane Walsh
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    Jun 16th 2014, 10:16 AM

    Joseph I couldn’t agree more..

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    Mute Joseph Siddall
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    Jun 16th 2014, 1:44 PM

    Presume the red thumbs are the considered input from the small minority of Marketing people who just know that the western world revolves around them. Or other deluded souls. Cleaners are amongst the most important people in any organisation and you really should get to know them if you want to know what’s going on in a company. Being “invisible” they see and hear things that those further up the food chain do not. Also on my list are Receptionists, Secretaries and Security………the good ones in each category, at least. The old fashioned tea lady was a brilliant source of information, but now sadly disappeared. The modern coffee machine sees all, hears all and says nowt – and the tea is usually cr4p. Treat everyone with respect on your way up, ‘cos you never know who you might meet on the way down.

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    Mute Noel Peare
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    Jun 16th 2014, 1:58 PM

    Well if you will try to get tea from a coffee machine you have to expect poor results

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    Mute Joseph Siddall
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    Jun 16th 2014, 2:25 PM

    Noel, well spotted. Probably explains my abiding dislike of machine-made tea. :-)

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    Mute Thors Big Hammer
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    Jun 16th 2014, 8:39 AM

    Tough thankless job.

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    Mute Summer Bay Devil
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    Jun 16th 2014, 7:49 AM

    We need more Lemon Pledge

    88
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    Mute Liam
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    Jun 16th 2014, 8:16 AM

    I only notice good looking cleaners to be honest…

    61
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    Mute Summer Bay Devil
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    Jun 16th 2014, 8:23 AM

    Meeester Superman no home

    31
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    Mute Shane Walsh
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    Jun 16th 2014, 8:53 AM

    I have the utmost respect for cleaners, very hard working people doing jobs that many would turn there nose up at.

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    Mute Simon Barnes
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    Jun 16th 2014, 8:08 AM

    Cant miss our cleaner . She’s fit as fcuk :-)

    72
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    Mute Robbie Doyle
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    Jun 16th 2014, 9:00 AM

    Reminds me of a song Ewan MacColl wrote about his mother called Nobody Knew She Was There, heartbreaking stuff.

    Glistening sheen of new-washed floors is fading, There where office clocks are marking time, Night’s black tide has ebbed away By cliffs of glass awash with day, She hurries from her labours still unseen.

    31
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    Mute Glangan
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    Jun 16th 2014, 9:30 AM

    Thanks for doing your job – well done!

    29
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    Mute Julian King
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    Jun 16th 2014, 9:24 AM

    But who’ll give recognition to the cleaners of these venues being used to give recognition to cleaners?

    20
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    Mute Justin Moran
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    Jun 16th 2014, 7:58 AM

    Great to see this given some profile but that was 1990, not 1900, when striking janitors were attacked in Los Angelus.

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    Mute Jay Warner
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    Jun 16th 2014, 10:38 AM

    What about the legions of Cleaners working in Hotels, restaurants, shops and offices etc? Typical of SIPTU to just cherry pick their own little inch of the world and ignore everyone else.

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    Mute david journal
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    Jun 16th 2014, 10:29 AM

    Cabin crew giving out last week, cleaners this week, why cant people just go to work and do the job without needing a parade about it.
    Its your job, just do it and be quite.

    17
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    Mute art vandelay
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    Jun 16th 2014, 9:33 AM

    Mr. Lippman: It’s come to my attention that you and the cleaning woman have engaged in sexual intercourse on the desk in your office. Is that correct?
    George Costanza: Who said that?
    Mr. Lippman: She did.
    George Costanza: [pause] Was that wrong? Should I not have done that? I tell you, I gotta plead ignorance on this thing, because if anyone had said anything to me at all when I first started here that that sort of thing is frowned upon… you know, cause I’ve worked in a lot of offices, and I tell you, people do that all the time.

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    Mute JGermanotta26
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    Jun 16th 2014, 11:21 PM

    Cleaners are the tiny wheels that keep the clock working. Without them it just wouldn’t work.

    Nice people know we all have a part to play, how dare anyone assume they are more ‘worthwhile’ based on their title ~ usually lazy buggers who wouldn’t work on batteries, prancing around looking more important than they are!

    This day for justice and to encourage respect for the cleaners is long overdue

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    Mute Jho Harris
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    Jun 16th 2014, 11:29 AM

    @ Joseph Siddall I agree 100% and have been saying that for years.
    @ David Journal. Do your job and be quite what? or did you mean quiet? Hope your job does not include journalism as your user name suggests or you have made a right laughing stock of yourself, you see they are not giving out. If you read the article you will see that this “It’s a celebration, not a protest” There are no big or complicated works for you to look up in their quote ” “We are often invisible to the public. Yet without the work we do, many of our most important facilities including hospitals, railway stations and universities simply could not function. This day is about reminding people about the value of our work in society.”

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    Mute david journal
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    Jun 16th 2014, 11:40 AM

    I misspelled a word, what a laughing stock I must look. In your simple little world maybe.
    There cleaners, they want a day of appreciation, ridiculous notions, just get on with there jobs.

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    Mute That's a paddlin'
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    Jun 16th 2014, 11:57 AM

    *They’re cleaners and *their jobs.

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    Mute Jho Harris
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    Jun 16th 2014, 10:14 PM

    @ David Journal. You know nothing about my world and I aim to keep it that way, I do try to keep it simple or at least uncomplicated but it is not little. I suspect your use of the word Journal in your user name does anything but reflect your skills as you have and my comment was not just about misspelling a word it also alluded to your begrudgery.

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    Mute Paddy Hannigan
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    Jun 16th 2014, 10:50 PM

    “Bonjour, je m’appelle Victor, Nettoyeur.”

    Oh!! Not that sort of cleaner.

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