An anti-trafficking group has welcomed the first conviction under Ireland’s anti-prostitution law.
Since early 2017 it has been illegal to pay for sex in Ireland. The voluntary support group Ruhama said that the first person had been convicted yesterday under the law.
Bryan Mason, 65, with an address at Moatlands, Ratoath, Co Meath, was discovered paying a woman for sex during a raid at a brothel in Blanchardstown, Dublin 15 last March. He was convicted and fined €200.
The gardaí have opened 11 investigations into individuals suspected of paying for sex since the law was introduced. Supporters of the legislation that criminalises paying for sex, which is known as the Swedish model, said that it would help to reduce cases of trafficking by disrupting the