Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the relationship between sex workers, local residents, politicians and the police in a contested space Dublin city centre.

Paper long abstract:

The Celtic Tiger heralded many changes, not only to the social and economic landscape of Dublin city, but was also apparent in the built environment. As former tired dilapidated areas of the city became gentrified, one such area north of the Liffey, emerged as a highly contested space. The commissioning of a new tramline and its subsequent works, forced many street-based sex workers from their traditional patches along the dark secluded alleyways of Arbour Hill, back into residential areas, and into direct conflict with local residents.

This paper explores the impact of these changes on the lives of sex workers and their struggles to survive amid the hostility of local residents in the form of nightly protests, a diminishing client base and increased police surveillance.