Ciara O'Connor, massage therapist, Dublin Airport
WE START at 10.30am. I usually get in a little early, to set up. I get the chair out of the press, put out the leaflets and start the music - something classical or New Agey, just as long as it's relaxing.
Once you're set up customers start arriving. We work in Pier B or Pier D, behind the departure gates, so the service is specifically for travellers.
They're good positions, because when people get to an airport all they want to do is get through the departure gates as fast as possible, but once they do there's nothing to do but look around the shops and hang around.
People have to check in so early now, and waiting can be stressful, especially if flights are delayed or if someone is nervous about flying.
We offer either a 10- or a 20-minute back, neck and shoulder massage, although if anyone has a particular problem we'll concentrate on that.
The most common problem we see is tight shoulders. A lot of our regular-flyer customers spend so much time hunched over a desk or computer. When you're concentrating like that it's hard to maintain correct posture.
Most people don't even know they have tight shoulders. They just feel the symptoms: stiff neck, tension headaches or a general feeling of fogginess.
Around 60 per cent of our clients are men, mainly because there are more men travelling. Also, I think, because what we do is out in the open, they like the fact that they can see exactly what we do here.
Once you have a customer, others start arriving. It's like an empty restaurant. No one wants to go in first.
At busy times I'd have between three and four people an hour. Lunchtime is our quiet period, when everybody's thinking about eating.
I try to bring in a lunch myself, because eating at the airport is expensive. There's a staff deal of a full meal and a drink for €7 in the restaurant upstairs, which is good value, but it adds up.
I've been working full-time as a massage therapist, both here and for myself at home, since January of last year. Before that I worked in financial services.
Financially, becoming self-employed was really scary, especially as my husband and I had just bought a house.
Now my earnings are back to what they were before, my quality of life is much better and the work is just so much more fulfilling. I love it.
The only downside is when you get a stag party. They can get a bit cheeky about the services we offer and generally just hang round and make noise, which is a bit tough on whatever customer happens to be in the chair at the time.
I guess the word "masseuse" has certain connotations for a certain type of person. It's down to all those small ads in the back of magazines, but it's one of the reasons we always refer to ourselves as massage therapists.
Things tend to get really busy again between 4pm and 6pm, and by 6.30pm we start wrapping up for the day.
In the bank you get the kind of tiredness at the end of the day where you feel your brain has melted. Doing this, you're just physically tired, which is a much nicer feeling.
In conversation with Sandra O'Connell