The anti-smoking lobby has welcomed the decision by Benson & Hedges to withdraw from sponsoring the Irish Masters' Snooker tournament, which was announced yesterday. Ash Ireland said last night an opportunity now existed for another industry, which was not responsible for killing 7,000 Irish people every year, to become sponsors.
The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, said he made no apologies for introducing the ban on tobacco advertising and sponsorship. He was aware of the popularity of the tournament and was prepared to enter into "constructive dialogue" with the organisers to assist them in finding another sponsor. Tobacco company Gallaher (Dublin) said yesterday the decision to withdraw from the event was "forced upon" it by the regulations introduced by Mr Martin.
It said it was the only professional snooker tournament held in this State on a regular basis and had been devised to "attract the world's leading snooker players to Ireland". For the past 23 years it had been one of the premier sporting events enjoyed by millions of RTE viewers. However, the chairman of Ash Ireland, Dr Fenton Howell, described the withdrawal as a "win, win" situation, saying new sponsors could be brought in who were not responsible for selling detrimental products to Irish people. "Because it is such a popular sport there will be no shortage of companies wanting to come forward."
The Minister said the company was informed at a meeting in October 1999 of the decision to ban tobacco advertising and sponsorship from the beginning of July this year. The company said the decision had come into effect ahead of a similar EU ruling which was not due to take effect until 2003 and in the case of Formula One motor racing, had been extended until 2006. "As a result of the Government's decision, the Irish public are now being denied access to a major sporting event at least three years in advance of their EU counterparts."