There was a "special investigation" by the Limerick Post (a local paperthat comes out once every week) about the streetwalkers around the city lately. They link it to prostitution in general, and there's an interesting bit about the use of apartments by escorts.

City prostitution is linked to

This is the text of the article:

CITY PROSTITUTION IS LINKED TO "EUROPEAN RING"

Women soliciting for the purpose of prostitution, as well as the running of organised brothels, has hit an all- time high in Limerick, according to garda intelligence.

Last year, gardai closed the “doors” of over a dozen brothels and prosecuted over 65 females- compared to 205 nationally- for soliciting in city streets. Figures continue to grow in a new wave of criminal activity.

Linking the running of brothels and street prostitutes to a subversive criminal underworld, it is believed that the operations in Limerick have direct links to a major European ring. Upwards of a dozen women are regularly seen soliciting in the Catherine Place, Catherine Street and Glentworth Street areas, and on two major thoroughfares. The brothels and the criminal masterminds behind the operations mobilise through website advertising and a contact base.

It has also been reported through court hearings and from garda intelligence, that those involved are initially staying in the city, despite “having no visible source of income”.
Described as “vulnerable,” they are “forced into prostitution,” according to gardai.
Senior officials are also concerned that the women who arrive “with the promise of a job” are, in fact, being trafficked in what is said to be a “real human tragedy”.
Supt Frank O’Brien said: “They are put in a room and forced to work as prostitutes”.

With teenagers and young women arriving from Romania, Brazil, Portugal, as well as other parts of Eastern Europe, garda intelligence, seen by the Limerick Post, indicates that the operation is part of a major European prostitution ring with connections to criminal gangs in Limerick and Europe. One Eastern European man before the courts last year charged with operating, organising and running a brothel from two apartments in the Mount Kennett area, has fled the country after he achieved bail through a High Court Order and the lodgement of a substantial cash sum.

Last year, the Limerick Post reported several cases before the courts where women were prosecuted for soliciting for the purpose of prostitution. Gardai believe that the opening and closing of “pop up brothels” and houses where women offer “services” to clients, is on the increase. It is alleged that apartments are being leased to “legitimate” tenants who then sublet the properties to prostitutes. A Limerick based property management company told this reporter that an apartment was seized and tenants evicted, after reports were received that two females were operating a brothel in an affluent area on the northside. A new tenant who moved in a short time later, was shocked when confronted with a string of callers.

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