Fighting smoking on Ireland’s beaches

James Reilly wants to ban smoking on beaches, in cars with young people and in public parks, according to a story by Sarah Bardon for the Irish Daily Mirror.

The new bans would be part of Reilly’s war on the tobacco industry and smoking, which he claims is not a war on smokers.

He wants Ireland to be tobacco-free by 2025.

Reilly said that nobody could believe it was right to see a child strapped into a child seat in the back of car while someone smokes in the front. “They have no say in the matter; we have a duty of care,” he said. “That legislation is very important to me.

“We are pursuing areas like beaches and parks, [but] if local authorities can do this without me producing legislation that is far preferable to me.

“The whole point about that is normalizing smoking. … What monkey sees, monkey does. If they see adults smoking in these places, they are going to be curious and look to do it themselves.”