
this prohibition order expired, a second prohibition order, which made it permanent, was granted. In the afterglow of Fifty Shades of Grey then, perhaps unleashing Playgirl on Ireland isn't such an indecent proposal.Ī spokesperson for the Censorship of Publications Board - a five-person State body - told Review: "Playgirl was first prohibited in 1974. "Of the top 36 titles, 34 are women's magazines, one is a children's magazine and the other is Men's Health, and I can guarantee you that a third of the people who buy Men's Health are women." "Overall though, Irish men are dreadfully poor at purchasing magazines. "Playboy is probably a rite of passage that every young fella goes through," says Vincent Jennings of the CSNA. Other lads' mags including Nuts, Maxim UK and Loaded, meanwhile, have simply folded. "Certainly our male readers are looking for something a bit more sophisticated."Īs worldwide circulation plummeted from 3.5 million in 2006 to around 1.5 million today, a 3-D centrefold in 2010 is just one of the ploys Playboy has tried to attract a younger audience. "Before the ban was lifted, men would smuggle Playboy back from England when they went to a football game nowadays, even though it's legal, it would be considered uncool to walk down Grafton Street with a copy in your back pocket. "It doesn't matter how high-end some adult mags become, they're still going to be seen as being a bit seedy. "Digital is going to wipe out the soft porn magazine market," he predicts. When it comes to X-rated reading material, today's Irish men are more likely to stretch for their smartphone than the top shelf, according to the country's leading magazine publisher.
#First playgirl magazine free
With free online porn fast outstripping old-fashioned nudie mags however, even the publishing powerhouse is struggling to keep its numbers up. Sure enough, by the turn of the millennium, Playboy was shifting nearly 10,000 copies per month this side of the Atlantic - making it the most popular import after Time and Newsweek. But people bought it, and they bought the next number of issues, and it became the norm." "I had two stores at the time and, to be perfectly honest with you, all I remember thinking is that it was extraordinarily overpriced. "I remember when the ban on Playboy was lifted," tells the former newsagent. Looking back on the moment the 34-year ban was overturned on appeal, Convenience Stores & Newsagents Association chief executive Vincent Jennings recalls being scandalised - not at the sight of a near-naked Pamela Anderson on the cover, but at the £4.90 price tag. Meanwhile, Playgirl - founded in response to Hugh Hefner's girlie magazine - remains blacklisted for being "indecent or obscene". Two decades are about to pass since the ban on the iconic American lad's mag was lifted by Ireland's Censorship of Publications Board. "Perhaps now on the 20th anniversary of the unbanning of Playboy in Ireland, it's time to make Playgirl legal too." "But I think it's a perfect example of the double standard in our culture that celebrates straight men's sexuality, whilst viewing that of women and gay men as shameful. "I'm shocked that Playgirl is still banned in Ireland," she says. Speaking to Review, SexSiopa.ie founder Shawna Scott this week urged censors to 'Play' fair over soft porn in 2015.

Twenty years after Playboy first hit top shelves here, sale of the feminist answer to the title is still prohibited.

One of Ireland's top sex shop owners has called for the ban on Playgirl magazine to be lifted.
