 Smoking is banned in workplaces in the Irish Republic |
A charity says it hopes Northern Ireland will become a pilot area for a UK-wide smoking ban in all workplaces including pubs and restaurants. It is understood the proposal has been raised with the Health Department in London by NIO ministers.
The Ulster Cancer Foundation's chief executive, Arlene Spiers, said her organisation has been lobbying for a pilot scheme to be introduced in the province.
"We see it as a logical step that Northern Ireland is used as the first area of the UK to show how it could work," she told BBC Radio Ulster's Inside Politics programme.
"The work that we've been doing in the Ulster Cancer Foundation tells us that there is a growing groundswell of public opinion wanting such policies here in Northern Ireland."
Smoking has been banned in workplaces in the Irish Republic since the end of March.
If customers are caught smoking in pubs, restaurants and other enclosed workplaces, proprietors will now face fines of up to 3,000 euros (�2,000).
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