A Romanian woman who pleaded guilty to operating a brothel in Letterkenny told gardaí she had three children at home in Romania and was trying to make money for Christmas.
The 28-year-old woman and another 20-year-old Romanian had only moved to Letterkenny on Monday where they rented an apartment.
A garda surveillance operation was launched after numerous men were seen entering the apartment.
Gardaí entered the premises last night with a warrant and found the two women, €875 in cash, condoms and other items indicating a brothel was in operation.
Buncrana District Court heard that the two women advertised their services on a website, had been known to be operating around the country but had no previous convictions.
The older woman was divorced and a victim of domestic abuse. Her mother and sister were minding her children in Romania and she came to Ireland because she saw an opportunity to give her children a better life.
The court heard that there was no evidence of human trafficking in the case, which was described as a private operation by the women.
Referring to other incidents around the country, Judge Paul Kelly said: "There seems to be a few in from Romania because there is money to be made and this needs to be discouraged."
He fined the women €300 each and the remainder of the money they were found with is to be used by them to return to Romania.
