A total ban on smoking in all enclosed public places in Northern Ireland is set to be announced tomorrow.
The announcement comes as the British government is still deciding how to proceed in England. But the indication is that the cabinet is poised to drop earlier plans for a partial ban exempting pubs and bars which do not serve food.
The Northern Ireland health minister is expected to follow the path of the Republic, which introduced a total ban on smoking in the workplace in March, 2004. Shaun Woodward recently visted Dublin and New York to assess how both cities have administered their bans.
Over the summer he revealed the results of a public consultation in the North which showed 91 per cent in favour of a total ban. A ban in all government departments came into force at the start of this year. However, the legislation to be announced this week will take until April 2007 to come into effect, a year after that already announced for Scotland.
The Ulster Cancer Foundation said the minister must not take the soft option of a partial ban.
"Shaun Woodward has been given a golden opportunity to drastically improve the health of the people of Northern Ireland," said Gerry McElwee, head of cancer prevention at the foundation.
"The minister's decision could end all smoking in all workplaces and enclosed public places," he said.
He warned: "Fudged proposals such as exemptions for some pubs or separate smoking rooms would fail to protect those workers and members of the public who are at most risk from other people's smoke."
While health campaigners are demanding a total ban, publicans are hoping that Mr Woodward will fudge and take the soft, partial ban, option they advocate.
Nicola Carruthers, chief executive of the Federation of the Retail Licensed Trade, Northern Ireland, said she was making no predictions about what the minister would announce. "It's so hard to call," she said.
Ms Carruthers added: "What we fear is a complete smoking ban. What we hope is that there is still room for a small compromise."
She said if the government came forward with any measures which meant people could still smoke somewhere on licensed premises, she would be delighted. "We just don't want to send people out on to the streets of Northern Ireland to smoke."
PA