Launch of the Smokefree Generation Alliance

The Irish Heart Foundation was proud to join public health, patient representative, professional and youth groups from across the island of Ireland in Dublin city centre today, Wednesday the 11th of November, to launch the Smokefree Generation Alliance.  

The Alliance, made up of over twenty organisations, have come together to call on the Irish Government to follow the United Kingdom and pass legislation to prohibit the sale of tobacco products to anyone born on or after the 1st of January 2009, creating a smokefree generation across the island of Ireland.  

They were joined by Fine Gael TD Colm Burke and Fianna Fáil TD Malcolm Byrne who supported the Alliance and the cause of a smokefree generation.  

In the UK, children born on or after the 1st of January 2009 will never be legally allowed to purchase tobacco. Effectively meaning that the legal age of sale of tobacco products in Great Britain and Northern Ireland is set to increase every year from 2027 onwards. 

Although the legal age of sale of tobacco products in the Republic of Ireland will increase to 21 on the 1st of February 2028, the legal age in Northern Ireland will increase to 22 by 2030, risking a misalignment across the island of Ireland. 

The Smokefree Generation Alliance was established to advocate for Ireland following the UK to ban the legal age of sale of tobacco products to anyone born on or after the 1st of January 2009. Fortunately, polling shows that most of the public back a tobacco-free generation.  

According to a 2026 Irish Heart Foundation commissioned Ipsos B&A poll of 1,000 adults aged 18+ in Ireland, 77% of the public agreed that the Republic of Ireland should prohibit the sale of tobacco products to children born on or after the 1st of January 2009. Even among smokers, 70% backed this measure.  

A similar poll conducted in Northern Ireland showed that 74% of the public there also backed the Republic of Ireland prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to children born on or after the 1st of January 2009. Across the island of Ireland, the public seek the creation of a smokefree generation. 

Despite all the positive progress in recent decades, each week, around 100 people die and almost 1,000 people are hospitalised due to smoking-related disease.  Tragically, the average age that smokers in Ireland report having tried their first cigarette is 16 years old. Locking people into a lifetime of addiction, disease, and premature death.  

As the national cardiovascular charity, the Irish Heart Foundation believes that introducing smokefree generation legislation in Ireland could be a transformative step in creating a tobacco free future.   

Speaking at the launch of the Alliance, interim director of advocacy for the Irish Heart Foundation, Mark Murphy, said it was a significant day. ‘This is a special day, when health groups from across the island of Ireland are speaking with one voice and calling on the Irish Government to begin planning and implementing for a smokefree generation’. 

Murphy added ‘It is often forgotten the scale of the devastation that tobacco causes. Every year in Ireland, over 4,500 people die from tobacco related diseases, with another 2,000 deaths occurring annually from smoking in Northern Ireland. 

‘We have an incredibly unique opportunity to rid our society of tobacco harm which would be utterly transformative for Irish society, public health, and our healthcare system. The Irish Heart Foundation, as founding members of the smokefree generation alliance is calling on the Irish Government to begin planning for this legislation today’. 

Attendees at the launch heard from a range of speakers including Deputy Colm Burke and Deputy Malcolm Byrne on the political significance of a smokefree generation; Dr Helen McAvoy from the Institute of Public Health on the all-island nature of the legislation; Dr Paul Kavanagh of the Royal College of Physicians, Ireland, and Dr Emmet O’Brien, chair of ASH Ireland, Council of the Irish Heart Foundation, on the health impact of such legislation, and Mark Murphy who presented the members of the Smokefree Generation Alliance.   

If you’re organisation is interested in joining the smokefree generation alliance, please email mmurphy@irishheart.ie