The Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI), a long-standing advocate for sex workers’ rights, has announced it is in danger of closure at the end of 2025 due to an unsustainable lack of funding. In a sobering online statement, the organisation revealed it is now “running on fumes,” operating with drastically pared back services and no secured core funding for the future.

For over a decade, SWAI has been Ireland’s only sex worker-led organisation, providing frontline support, public education, and advocacy for the decriminalisation of sex work. Its statement underscores the harsh realities facing grassroots organisations that directly challenge state institutions and policy: “Our radical work that critiques the government, the Gardaí, the Nordic Model, including client criminalisation and brothel keeping laws, makes us difficult to fund.”

SWAI has been a vocal opponent of Ireland’s current sex work legislation, which criminalises the purchase of sexual services and penalises workers who operate together for safety. It argues that these laws, under the so-called ‘Nordic Model’, have only pushed sex work further underground, making workers more vulnerable to violence and exploitation.

The group’s outspokenness has made them a crucial but controversial voice in Ireland’s policy landscape, one that, they say, funding bodies have long shunned and ignored.

 

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“We cannot ethically fulfil our role if we make ourselves more palatable to those in power,” the group stated. “We would not be giving voice to the needs and wants of sex workers in Ireland if we toned these statements down.”

The potential closure announcement comes just weeks before Ugly Mugs, another vital support service for sex workers in Ireland, is also set to cease operations. SWAI warns this represents not just a loss for sex workers, but a significant blow to civil society: “It should greatly worry wider society that organisations that support the safety and wellbeing of marginalised communities cannot continue to operate in Ireland.”

SWAI has set an EGM for August 12, 2025, to formally dissolve the organisation. They are urging supporters to continue donating through their crowdfund, which remains open to help cover remaining operational costs and staff wages. Organisations interested in the Sex Workers Awareness Training are encouraged to book before the end of the year, as it will no longer be available from 2026.

The announcement is a stark reminder of the fragility of community-led organisations operating without core state support. SWAI’s closure will leave a significant gap in Ireland’s human rights landscape, particularly for sex workers, who already face intense stigma, legal risk, and violence.

“To the sex workers in Ireland,” the statement closes, “who remain some of the strongest and most inspiring people we know. Sex workers have always taken care of each other, because they often had no one else to rely on. We don’t doubt that that will remain true.”

To donate to SWAI and support its remaining operations, click here.