Irish Advertising Law

Attention! We are not legally trained. The information on this site should not be construed as legal advice.

If you are interested in escorting in Ireland you may find this information on the law in relation to Irish escort advertising useful.

In the Republic of Ireland you will not find escorts adverts in newspapers, magazines, the Golden Pages or any print publication. Republic of Ireland print publications do not take escort ads.

Republic of Ireland prostitution law is not completely dissimilar to UK prostitution law. Like in the UK, prostitution itself is not illegal in the Republic of Ireland, but the law does criminalise many activities associated with it. In the Republic of Ireland, the law clearly prohibits the advertising of brothels and prostitution, and this law has been used to prosecute publishers of escorts adverts in recent history. This is why no Irish print publications take escort adverts today.

It is Section 23 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 that prohibits advertising of brothels and prostitution in the Republic of Ireland. Click here if you would like to read the full text of it.

The case that sealed the fate of escort advertising in print publications in the Republic of Ireland was that of the In Dublin magazine. The In Dublin magazine carried adverts for escort and massage services until a 1998 Garda (Irish police) crackdown on those who profit from prostitution saw it banned from carrying all such advertisements by the Censorship of Publications Board and criminal proceedings brought against the magazine's publisher, Mike Hogan, which resulted in him having to pay a €63,500 fine.

You may say "But escorts are not prostitutes!" but that's a moot point here. No Republic of Ireland print publication has taken escort adverts since the In Dublin case, and, unless the law changes, this is unlikely to. In 2004 a Sunday Mirror investigation did reveal that two British lads mags that are sold in the Republic of Ireland, FHM and Maxim, were carrying escort adverts. However both magazines immediately ceased accepting escort adverts when they realised they were facing a ban in the Republic of Ireland because of this.

The Internet is now the only place Republic of Ireland escorts can advertise. Not all websites that list Republic of Ireland escorts are legal though. In fact, as far as we know, Escort-Ireland.com is the only dedicated Irish escort commercial website that is legal.

The Irish escort Internet has got some bad press in recent years because, unfortunately, there are a couple of Irish escort websites that are being operated by criminals out there. However, by being a smart shopper, it is very possible to spot rogue Irish escort websites. Criminal Irish escort websites will never market themselves as this - They will invariably promote themselves as anything but bad guys - But, if you are dealing with a legal business, you shouldn't be dealing with people that are obsessed with remaining anonymous to you, only willing to accept payment by cash sent to a mailbox address etc, should you?

Because Northern Ireland is part of the UK, Republic of Ireland law does of course not apply to Northern Ireland. However, only one major publication available in the North, The Sport, carried escort adverts and this publication ceased in 2011. This is probably because Northern Irish society is generally quite prudish when it comes to things like escorting.