Ireland is to become the first country in the European Union to ban branding on cigarette packages by using plain packaging and uniform labeling, the government said on Tuesday. All trademarks, logos, colors and graphics will be removed from tobacco products sold in Ireland under the new rules, the Health Ministry said, after the proposal secured backing from the government. Smoking was a central part of Ireland’s pub culture until the country became the first in the world to ban smoking in all enclosed public places, public transport and workplaces in 2004. …