Northern Ireland

Cigarettes face price increase - On This Day in 1974

Despite increases of up to 1p for 20 cigarettes, prices were still far cheaper than they are today

Cigarettes
Increases of up to 1p for 20 cigarettes were announced in 1974 by Carreras Rothman’s.
October 1 1974

Cigarettes up 1p for Twenty

Increases of up to 1p for 20 cigarettes were announced yesterday by Carreras Rothman’s.

One of the firm’s brands – St Moritz – will cost 1½p more for a packet of 20. Its cigars and tobaccos are not affected by the increases which are blamed on rising costs.

New recommended prices for packets of 20 are: Louis Rothmans Select (43p), St Moritz (37p), Rothman King Size (36p), Guards (30p), Rothmans International (40), Piccadilly No 1 (39½p), Peter Stuyvesant (36p), and Cambridge (29p).

The increases come into effect when present stocks run out.

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Despite the price increase, prices for cigarettes were still far cheaper than they are today, even after adjusting for inflation (£1 in 1974 is the equivalent to £9.21 in August 2024).
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Agreement Reached

It is a matter for some congratulation that those involved have shown a mutual comprehension of the wishes of the voters concerned that if Six County seats at Westminster are to be fought, it is only basic realism that where there is an opportunity of capturing a seat from the Loyalists, anti-Loyalist candidates should not confront each other.

This is not to suggest that the politically ambitious should be frustrated in their efforts to win the voters’ support; it is to declare that the interests of the minority population in particular constituencies are best served by the presentation of one candidate, whatever his political label, so long as he is capable of rallying all anti-Loyalist votes.

This has happened, as so many people hoped it would, in Fermanagh-South Tyrone where Mr Francis Maguire will now go forward as an Independent in opposition to Mr Harry West, the UUUC leader.

In Mid-Ulster, once effectively represented by Mrs Bernadette McAliskey, Mr Ivan Cooper of the SDLP will be fighting Mr [John] Dunlop who secured the seat for UUUC at the last election because of a split vote. Mr Cooper’s danger is from the Republican Clubs’ candidate, Mr Francis Donnelly; but he is unlikely to take a sufficiency of votes away from Mr Cooper to again let Mr Dunlop in.

Irish News editorial supporting the fielding of only one anti-loyalist candidate in constituencies for Westminster elections where there is a strong chance of winning a seat. The strategy worked in Fermanagh-South Tyrone where Francis Maguire regained his seat from Harry West in October 1974 that he had lost in February 1974.