Smoking is to be outlawed in all workplaces in Northern Ireland including bars and restaurants, the government has announced.
Calling it a cause of social justice, Northern Ireland health minister Shaun Woodward told an audience of health professionals and members of the country's licensed trade that the legislation will come into effect from April 2007.
"No one has a right to subject colleagues and workmates to the dangers and hazards of second-hand smoke and passive smoking," said Woodward, an ex-smoker.
"No one has a right to subject members of the public who do not smoke to those same dangers in enclosed public spaces."
Opponents claimed the move will be bad for business and put jobs at risk, particularly within the bar, hotel and restaurant industries.
Health campaigners, however, seized on the news as a giant step forward.
"Minister Woodward has shown courage in making this decision, and we will give him our full support in taking it to implementation," said Dr. Brian Patterson, chairman of the British Medical Association (BMA) Northern Ireland.
"He has listened to the people of Northern Ireland and held his nerve in deciding to give them the total ban for which they have called. We urge the politicians to now move through the legislation process as rapidly as possible because delay costs lives.
"Each week one person in Northern Ireland dies from inhaling other people's tobacco smoke, so it is imperative that no more time is lost."
Meanwhile, the BMA argued that research showing that smoke-free laws in the Republic of Ireland are protecting bar workers from the effects of secondhand smoke gives Tony Blair no excuse for withholding a complete ban on smoking in England.
The decision by Northern Ireland to introduce legislation will likely add further pressure to the prime minister to implement a full ban.
