21 Comments

• jacersagain | Jan 11, 2011, 05:02 PM EST

  Nah Townie... ‘twas a perfectly designed jungle, not a “bit of a jumble”. And yes, the Gardener God did all the making of Paradise - and with not a spade in His hands or boots on His feet (doesn’t have hands or feet) - wonderful that, eh? Then that ssssneeaky salestalking, luring ssssnake hadta come along and ruin it all!! Perhaps I need to correct meself – maybe salesmanship is the oldest profession... a distasteful profession, we all know, as bad as prostitution. Poor Eve, falling under the spell of sales talk as all women do. Why else do most women, today highly educated, carrying degrees and diplomas, pluck their eyebrows off and then paint them back on with a pencil???

• Towngate | Jan 11, 2011, 09:20 AM EST

  Jakers: On the 'oldest profession' well, who planted the fekin apple tree? answer me that! - My vote is for the Gardener! But then - who made his fekin spade?But then, who made his boots? ... its all a bit of a jumble isn''t it?

• HEARTLESSWORLD | Jan 06, 2011, 01:09 PM EST

  No amount of legalising prostitution is going to get rid of the problems it causes men in their communities and the families who are torn apart by this,debt,single mothers,feral children,can all be linked back to drugs and prostitution,legalising it,will not get rid of these problems,it will just NORMALISE AND JUSTIFY IT,the only people who are on the right side of this are the vendors in vegas,and amsterdam,even there the social problems,single mothers,stds,mafia culture and violence are still there..

• Monsoonman | Jan 06, 2011, 11:16 AM EST

  ho

• sirpeter | Jan 06, 2011, 10:46 AM EST

  Monsoonman..What i meant by professional is a women who knows what she is doing and gets medically checked on a regular basis, not some drug attic or some student doing it,spreading STD's.What other word would you use to grade a prostitute? Just as a matter of interest.

• Monsoonman | Jan 05, 2011, 08:01 PM EST

  "They should have to be professional prostitutes"???sir pete? The first time you do something and get paid for it you leave the realm of amateur and enter the realm of "professional". I wish I could be a professional golfer, but no one is dumb enough to pay me to hack at the ball. When you get a chance you could flesh that one out for me. Are you going to require 4 year university degrees to elevate to the status of professional? Or will it be a sort of guild thing, indentured servitude/apprenticeship for years, then elevated to professional status? Graduate magna come loude?

• jacersagain | Jan 05, 2011, 05:16 PM EST

  I would disagree that prostitution is "the oldest" prefession in the world. Robbery is - Adam robbed the apple. Eve sold her body for the apple.

• jacersagain | Jan 05, 2011, 05:13 PM EST

  While I can see benefits in legal, regulatory and taxation aspects for the argument to legalise prostitution, I can’t agree that this is the way forward. Yes, let’s find ways to get rid of the pimps but how do we get around the problem of men and women thinking that it is “ok” to pay for sexual favours? Or that it is “ok” for women or men to sell their body for money, drugs or whatever? Both of these instances amount to abuse and we are all agreed that abuse is wrong. No, I think the way forward is better education on the harms (there are many) of sex-based prostitution. If we can get people to re-discover self-worth, then there should be no prostitutes, no sex buyers and no pimps. Simplistic, I know - but who is to say it cannot be done, or at least that prositution greatly diminished?

• Towngate | Jan 05, 2011, 03:06 PM EST

  CUDDLYBUDDLY Thanks for offering your ironical ‘due respects', but I think you got hold of the wrong end of me lever! ............ I was merely suggesting that the sale and purchase of sexual gratification was once well-organised and understood by everybody. Not secret, but common knowledge. ........In the fabulous satirical song "Monto", is says The Lord Mayor of Dublin even took Queen Victoria there! .................Why you use my light-hearted Comment to introduce extraneous strands on the church, child abuse and abuse of women in secret, and whatever else is lurking behind your fingertips, is anybody’s guess, but try to relay your feelings about the actual Blog,without attacking innocent Posters.

• sirpeter | Jan 05, 2011, 01:38 PM EST

  cuddlybuddly...take a look at the catholic church and child sexual abuse..YAWN!!

• cuddlybuddly | Jan 05, 2011, 01:32 PM EST

  with all due respect Towngate, we all know where secrecy gets us- take a look at the catholic church and child sexual abuse...so abusing women in secret and with impeccable manners won't achieve a thing- and sirpeter you are named after the male genital i notice! how comical

• sirpeter | Jan 05, 2011, 12:47 PM EST

  Monto Towngate....You must be so proud it's named after one of the "ladies" in your family..ha ha ha

• Towngate | Jan 05, 2011, 09:02 AM EST

  WHEN IRELAND was under previous Management, such transactions took place in the Montgomery Street district near Dublin Docks: known as "Monto Town". Everyone coming or going from there knew their business and kept it to themselves.

• moygannon | Jan 04, 2011, 06:22 PM EST

  Government advancing to the rear as usual.

• HEARTLESSWORLD | Jan 04, 2011, 04:46 PM EST

  Criminalising the men only??Men are the only link to the crime - SO I THINK IT IS ON THE BUTTON! You would want to rethink that?????and WASTE MORE TIME WHILE WOMEN ARE BEING ABDUCTED BEATEN AND RAPED INTO PROSTITUTION?????AND A BULLET IN THE HEAD WHEN DONE?Why rethink it???Why wast anymore time??The rot of society is here,stds are on the RISE here in IRELAND..VIOLENCE AND SEX IS ON THE MIND OF MANY A MAN..AND YOU SAY THIS IS OKAY????? Men are not WORKING,they are punters,and slaves to the globalist sex trade agenda..Giving their girlfriends stds,and also contributing to HIGH RISE DESPIAR,SINGLE MOTHERS IN HIGH RISE APARTMENTS ..IS ALSO ON THE RISE..THE BREAK DOWN OF THE IRISH FAMILY UNIT,IRELAND IS TEARING AT THE SEAMS..AND RICHOPHILES LIKE YOU SAY LETS LEGALIZE IT,WHO BENEFITS,PEOPLE LIKE YOU,WHILE YOU CAN WATCH THE DEGREDATION OF SOCIETY THROUGH A WINDOW IN YOUR PRIVATE JET! Prostitution was LEGAL in ireland for MANY YEARS..and i have watched young men,sepearated,divorced and not able to keep their own women,who in the end got another man,people have STDS NOW...STDS!!!!PROBLEMS EVERYWHERE,IT IS OKAY FOR YOU TO SUGGEST RE - LEGALIZING IT AGAIN,BECAUSE YOU DONT HAVE TO EXPERIENCE THE SUFFERING OF IT!

• Niall O'Dowd | Jan 04, 2011, 01:21 PM EST

  it is both a moral and a legal issue. The moral issue can never be resolved but the legal one can by decriminalizing, and making it safe

• barneyjo | Jan 04, 2011, 12:32 PM EST

  From a male perspective, and leaving aside enforcement, it cannot be an easy choice for anyone, man or woman to deliberately choose to work within what is loosely termed the "sex industry" Every effort should be made to rescue those who are victims of this awful existence and who are forced to sell their bodies for whatever reason. Having said that, anyone who chooses of their own free will and volition to work within this sector for their own ends have to be respected,(and yes I would readily accept they are a minority. It is a poor reflection on our wider society that in Ireland today, there are young men and women who are prepared to provide sexual services in order to fund their way through college for example. If no other financial resource is available to them and they are still prepared to do this to achieve a given end, then I for one can only respect their life choice if the "end can be seen to justify the means"

• sirpeter | Jan 04, 2011, 11:36 AM EST

  Portia777..No one is saying it is right,but the fact remains that some men don't have easy access to sex and are willing to pay for it.Women on the other hand have a much easier time gaining access to sex.Unless they want a handsome male escort and then they pay. Leaving aside where women are forced into the sex industry or violently coerced to sell their bodies for money. My question is...Are their women out there,who sell sex as a means of making fast money..and if their is,why not sex up a proper system where they can sell sex,under safe conditions.Personality at the end of the day in Ireland I would say most women choose to sell sex, because they want the money for their drug habit.Either way in Ireland women do have a choice. I think it's wrong to blame men for prostitution.For a long time i used to think it was men who largely cheated, when it came to extra-marital sex..But i have since found out both parties are at it equally

• Portia777 | Jan 04, 2011, 09:24 AM EST

  legalising prostitution of women does not make it right.Why is it that males can use and abuse women legally, yet the female get punished?In an equal society, there would be 50% male prostitutes, but are there? No.Why? Why is it that women are forced to sell their bodies and souls to feed themselves and their children?In domestic violence cases, many victims end up on the streets selling their bodies because our wonderful system is degisned in such a way that victims cannot escape the old patriarchal system of controlling the female of the species. To those in the hierarchy, women are seen as less then human, with brain measurement found wanting- whatever that means?,the emotional of the species, the Eve ill ones, yet we are all born of the female and would not exist without her. So, in truth, demonising her who created both males and females, demonises all of us. It takes 2 to tango - but the one with the money is the one in control and he has the power over his victim at all times. Predators is all these men are and they feed off the misery of these second class, evil,sub human females. Just look at irish society 2010, when fathers still say- oh she is only a girl, what use is she on our farm. The discrimination begins at her birth. The rich males would like to legalise prostitution and pedophilia but that does not make it right.

• cuddlybuddly | Jan 04, 2011, 08:17 AM EST

  legalising it is in fact endorsing the exploitation of women for sexual acts- this is not what women are for... seriously.... I look forward to the day we can start from a foundation of equality for all life on Earth, where we already know there is enough for everyone and that time will come when we will be accountable and responsible for allowing this appalling cruelty continue- do you think for a minute life will let us away with this? when you sat there and did nothing, and said it was "as old as the hills" this is the ultimate in being f-ckd up!!

• sirpeter | Jan 03, 2011, 06:00 PM EST

  Prostitution should be legalized,but under strict regulation and off the streets and it should be monitored carefully to make sure no shady business is going on.They should have to be professional prostitutes and be made to pay taxes like any other job.Prostitutes on the streets should be given real help if they have a drug problem and looked after properly.Criminalizing men who need their services is a bad law,as it won't be enforceable,unless the plan is to drive it off the streets.