Something Big.....

[bollocks]

The world wont end and if it does I will be with my mot. I love my mot

[Catriona]

And which cops would this be? The ones who can magically get, without anything more than a phone call, all these ip addresses from the isp without a warrant, on people who are not performing a crime, where even if the bill does pass, it's a crime only once proven, and the penalty is a max fine of €500?

Let's not let the paranoia get on top of us just yet...

I think for the most part, the guards have better things to do.

They can't tap phones, take IP addresses when they introduce this law. Here's an article to explain why the Gardaí are limited in their surveillance measures. This is the same in NI as well, where it's even more difficult to get approval for a wire tap.

http://feministire.com/2014/12/06/on...alise-clients/

Wendy is a solicitor so she would know what she's talking about.

No changes to Garda surveillance powers. In their testimony before a Stormont committee dealing with the same proposal, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said they would be unable to use the wiretap methods that the Swedish police rely on to enforce the sex purchase ban. Well, guess what: the Gardaí can’t use them either. Under the Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Act 2009, they have to apply to a District Court Judge for authorisation to use a wiretap, and this authorisation can only be given in connection with an “arrestable offence” i.e. one carrying a possible five-year-or-more sentence. Which leads me to the next omission…

No custodial sentence for paying for sex. The maximum fine is €1,000, and that’s only for repeat offenders – which hardly seems appropriate for an act that groups like Ruhama consider to be a form of violence against women. It’s also worth noting that Sweden recently increased its penalties, while in Norway, some have proposed making selling sex illegal too (in fact, according to a Norwegian human rights activist I met recently, that’s actually the main debate over the law at present) – because merely fining men who are caught paying for sex hasn’t been enough of a deterrent.

No change to the hearsay rule. In Sweden, hearsay evidence can be introduced in court, where it is given by a “trustworthy” source such as a police officer. In Ireland, it generally can’t be (there are exceptions, but none relevant here). So if a Swedish sex worker refuses to give evidence that she was paid to have sex with an accused, a Swedish policeman can quote things she said to him at the time of the arrest that would tend to support a conviction. In Ireland, anything she said would be inadmissible unless she went to court and said it herself. I’d imagine the chances of any sex worker agreeing to do this are virtually nil – unless of course the State subpoenas her and forces her to testify in what would be, let’s remember, a public hearing. Tell me again how the groups supporting this law have sex workers’ interests at heart?

[EIFII]

Tell me again how the groups supporting this law have sex workers’ interests at heart?

Let's be clear on this once and for all - they don't have sex workers interests heart, as the author of your article well knows. No matter what we members on here think, the public at large find the purchase of sex distasteful, so the politicians find that there is an opportunity to be seen to be "doing something" about a different issue - human trafficking and modern day slavery - with the tacit approval of an ignorant public because they had successfully managed to link these two issues. The unfortunate reality is that there may be a large number of liberal thinking members of the population, who agree that what happens in private between consenting adults is no-one else's business, but they unfortunately do not feel strongly enough to challenge Fitzgerald and her colleagues over this lunacy. These liberal minded adults are for the most part not personally involved in the purchase of sex, and so are nothing more than passive supporters of our cause.
Some of the utterly grim nonsense that has been posted on here in the recent past (criminalising clients will lead to a rise in rape and violence against women by guys who would otherwise be happy paying clients) is in my view utterly detrimental to our cause.

And finally lets be clear that were Alan Shatter still the justice minister, we would not be facing into this scenario next year.

[john40]

So does anyone have any idea what this big thing in 49 days is ? Any clues EI ??? I'm curious

[willie wacker]

So does anyone have any idea what this big thing in 49 days is ? Any clues EI ??? I'm curious

Ya Irish Leigha is coming to Galway for a date with me lol

[Jiberjabber]

Are we going to have one of these threads every day or two? This type of advertising makes my ass twitch. Cringe inducing.

No offence meant to the OP.

[tony1]

I have to agree with you to many threads about this.

Are we going to have one of these threads every day or two? This type of advertising makes my ass twitch. Cringe inducing.

No offence meant to the OP.

[EIFII]

And does anyone know how many more threads will be created asking this. This must be the 4th one i think.

At an average of one every 2 days, I estimate another 25. Of course as the count down gets nearer to the end, the incidence of threads will become greater. So I predict somewhere in the mid 40's.

[NoBrain2]

To be fair not everyone is as sad as us lot, some people actually have lives and aren't on here every day, expect this question to be asked alot over the next 49 days

[talkabout]

So does anyone have any idea what this big thing in 49 days is ? Any clues EI ??? I'm curious

The Messiah is returning to Earth ,obviously.