IS BEGGING ON THE STREET LEGAL?

zing zong

is begging on the street legal?

i completely and wholeheartedly understand that people will and do find themselves in situations that will sadly have them in a position that they may need to beg on the street

but as far as i understood, i thought that begging on the street, as a general rule was illegal? i understood there are groups and services that do look after the unfortunate people that find themselves facing hard times, to cover them, so they wouldnt have to beg

the reason i ask is, and i realize this may sound cold, but there are a few that beg near my area, *but* they have been doing it every single day, the same few, for about 2 years now, and i have seen the police simply walk by, never asking them a thing...i would somewhat consider them 'career beggars' at this stage..


ANYWAY long story short is it legal?


(btw, they aren't junkies)

jeckle

Yes, it is legal!

The law preventing begging was struck down by the High Court in 2007.

'A young Dublin man charged with begging on Parliament Street in the city more than three years ago challenged Section 3 of the nineteenth century Vagrancy Act.

Niall Dillon claimed Section 3 of the act breached his constitutional right to freedom of expression and his right to communicate.'

'But the judge found that the section was unconstitutional because it interfered with the constitutional right of freedom of expression and freedom to communicate with other people.'

zing zong

jeckle wrote: »

Yes, it is legal!

The law preventing begging was struck down by the High Court in 2007.

'A young Dublin man charged with begging on Parliament Street in the city more than three years ago challenged Section 3 of the nineteenth century Vagrancy Act.

Niall Dillon claimed Section 3 of the act breached his constitutional right to freedom of expression and his right to communicate.'

'But the judge found that the section was unconstitutional because it interfered with the constitutional right of freedom of expression and freedom to communicate with other people.'

thanks for that

murrayp4

The minister was supposed to bring in new legislation do deal with begging some time this year. No sign of it yet though..

zing zong

fair enough, i was just wondering really, dont get me wrong, some people do have to beg, and i do try to help out, but these guys i get the feeling they are taking the mick, in the sense that they really dont need to be begging

candy-gal1

Irish r romanian? just wondering lol

zing zong

i have no idea if they are romanian, but they're not irish

Blazer

zing zong wrote: »

i have no idea if they are romanian, but they're not irish

Are you sure?
Could be a certain Kerryman by the name of John O' Donoghue.
He's just lost his job and a serious amount of dosh the poor bastard...
if you see him help the poor fella out...:(

candy-gal1

zing zong wrote: »

i have no idea if they are romanian, but they're not irish

lol

zing zong

ha ha no bother, ill help him to a kick to the arse!

WesternNight

Saw a woman being moved along by a Garda in Galway this afternoon while she was begging on the street.

zing zong

WesternNight wrote: »

Saw a woman being moved along by a Garda in Galway this afternoon while she was begging on the street.

so its up to the guard's own discretion then?

PCPhoto

it is not illegal to beg ...but some gardai have decided to occasionally enforce public order offences and harassment against people who aggressively beg on the streets.


IN RESPONSE THE THE ABOVE MESSAGE - Gardai can ask anyone to leave an area - and if they fail to leave they are breaking the law ..... strange law but its there....typical of this country to bring in a "do what your told law"

WesternNight

zing zong wrote: »

so its up to the guard's own discretion then?

No idea. But if it's completely legal then I'm not sure why she was told to go.

the locust

Other legislation can come into play for example if they are intoxicated, gardai can simply move them on or arrest them or if he/she starts to act say in an abusive/aggressive/insulting manner gardai can move them on or arrest under the almighty public order act or if they are mentally ill etc... there are more ways than one to skin a cat as the saying goes

WesternNight

the locust wrote: »

gardai can move them on or arrest under the almighty public order act or if they are mentally ill etc

You might want to rephrase that - as it stands there it seems like you're suggesting that one could be arrested for being depressed or bipolar or have some other mental disorder. Which I'm sure you're not suggesting at all.

Anyway, yeah, she was just sitting there with her baby minding her own business (pretty much) as far as I could see.

I don't particularly have any problem with people begging/selling stuff in the street. So long as they're not pushy about it. When it's a case of standing in a queue for an ATM and I'm offered a Big Issue and I say "No, thanks" and the question gets repeated along with "please? ... pleeeeeaaase?" until I leave...then I have more of an issue with it.

cushtac

WesternNight wrote: »

Anyway, yeah, she was just sitting there with her baby minding her own business (pretty much) as far as I could see.

There's the reason there, she had procured a child for the purposes of begging.

cushtac

WesternNight wrote: »

You might want to rephrase that - as it stands there it seems like you're suggesting that one could be arrested for being depressed or bipolar or have some other mental disorder. Which I'm sure you're not suggesting at all.

Gardaí can detain someone for treatment if they believe that a person is suffering from a mental disorder and theres a serious likelihood of the person causing 'immediate and serious harm' to themselves or others.

WesternNight

cushtac wrote: »

Gardaí can detain someone for treatment if they believe that a person is suffering from a mental disorder and theres a serious likelihood of the person causing 'immediate and serious harm' to themselves or others.

I don't doubt that at all. That's not what was said though