ABSTRACT
Prostitution policy has emerged as one of the most divisive issues within contemporary debates on sexual politics on the island of Ireland. This chapter explores the experiences of four academic researchers working in both the Republic of Ireland (Paul Ryan and Eilís Ward) and Northern Ireland (Susann Huschke and Graham Ellison) on aspects of the sex industry. It utilizes the concept of emotional labor to describe the experiences of the researchers, focusing on the consequences for academics when they deviate from a dominant narrative on prostitution in the public sphere. Ward had been involved with feminist activism on issues of reproductive rights and sexual violence against women and, in her academic career, with teaching and writing on issue of women and politics. Like Ward, Ellison knew that public opposition to Lord Morrow of the ruling Democratic Unionist Party's (DUP) attempt to introduce a sex purchase ban in Northern Ireland would identify him as someone "who could be attacked or ridiculed".
