Absolutely no doubt that this law will put a lot of clients off and unfortunately for escorts, they are likely to be the more agreeable, well behaved clients. There will be some with nothing to lose family-wise, others who see a fine and exposure as an occupational hazard or who may even enjoy the element of danger, but generally speaking most are going to retire for exactly the reasons that Curious K outlines above. Public exposure might not matter in London or even Dublin, but for the smaller places in Ireland, this will be a huge deal.
Having said that, Sweden still has a considerable number of sex workers who are clearly getting business, so there will be ways around even the toughest laws. Frances Fitzgerald's stated aim that she doesn't want sex buying to be ''normalised'' will almost certainly be achieved, so it will be a win for the moral crusaders. However the naivety of Lord Morrow's position, that somehow this will eradicate human trafficking (the coersive, violent type rather than economic migrancy) is going to be exposed and he's going to need every spin doctor he can buy to convince anyone that it's worked in three years time.
Last edited by Davidontour; 11-12-14 at 14:16.
2014 in Northern Ireland:
Number of reported attacks on sex workers 70
Number of sex trafficking cases ZERO