During the 1980s Ireland experienced numerous episodes of severe wintertime air pollution, one of these episodes in 1982 was associated with a significant increase in mortality1. In Dublin the European guideline of 250mgm-3 of particulate pollution was continually being breeched. Eventually due to mounting public pressure and concern over the air quality the government introduced a coal ban in Dublin in 1990, there were further extensions of this ban in 1995, 1998 and 2000. The effectiveness of these various coal bans on air quality is presented here.
