Begging around the city centre.

Comhrá

I noticed when I was in town this morning, the number of people begging seems to have increased recently. I counted seven people with paper cups from the top of William St. down to the middle of O'Connell St.

How many of these people are genuinely begging for subsistance or to support a drug habit or they are members of criminal 'begging' gangs.

There was one young non-national lady in O'Connell St, as she is every Saturday morning when I'm in town and previously I always made a donation as I felt maybe she was in dire straits and so gave her the benefit of the doubt.

This morning however, when I passed her, there were two large foreign guys with her, standing around chatting with her and I was suspicious they were part of an organised begging group. Always hard to know but I'm less and less inclined to give nowadays.

What are people's opinions on all these young people with the paper cups?

How many are just destitute?
How many are substance addicts?
How many are part of organised crime gangs?

chicorytip

I encounter a couple of older men around the Cruises St /Denmark St area who are obviously chronic alcoholics. There are also young women (sometimes accompanied by males) who appear to be Heroin addicts begging in this general area. These are local people. Members of the Roma community, in Ireland as a whole, are reputed to be involved in begging on what could be called an organised or professional level.

osarusan

Some of them are better dressed than I am. They should be giving me money.

OfTheMarsWongs

There was a hunched over guy who used to walk with a limp who used beg at St. Mary's Church (not only the poet guy). Felt sorry for him till i saw him carrying an amp down William Street. Perfectly upright! Also saw him sans limp selling balloons St. Patrick's Day.

amtc

Was in Limerick recently...am from Dublin and used to beggars. Walked from hotel to restaurants at 6ish. Every rubbish bin had someone at it.

Phoenix Wright

OfTheMarsWongs wrote:

There was a hunched over guy who used to walk with a limp who used beg at St. Mary's Church (not only the poet guy). Felt sorry for him till i saw him carrying an amp down William Street. Perfectly upright! Also saw him sans limp selling balloons St. Patrick's Day.

Is that the lad who always wears the black hat? He used to beg and pretend to have a really bad limp at the traffic lights near Musgrave too. Then a few weeks later we saw him cycling in Castletroy.

osarusan

I was in a bookies one time when some girl came in and handed me a note with some sad story. I handed it back but she initially refused to take it, instead getting down on one knee and clasping her hands together in a prayer/begging manner. The staff told her to get out then, and she took her note back as she left.

Later in the day I saw her walking down the street with a new printer in her hands.

Stuff like that will turn people off giving money to anybody, and affect those who really could do with help.*


*not that giving a few coins on the street will be that much help anyway.

davo2001

The only reason beggers in Limerick are so bad is because people are stupid (naive?!) enough to give them money. Don't get me wrong, there are some (very rare) genuine cases, but the VAST majority are scammers.

The sooner people stop giving them anything the sooner the issue will go away.

Tim76

Definitely has gotten a lot worse. I was in town last night and there seemed to be a beggar set up on every block on O'Connell St.

Even Dublin doesn't have that type of coverage.

celligraphy

There is an awful lot of false beggars around but there is one genuine guy I dunno if anyone has ever seen him he's old , I literally seen him drinking out of a discarded water bottle one day he found poor guy

riverrocked

I counted 5 sitting by bins, from the AIB on O'Connell Street to Patrick Street this morning. I know we are supposed to be better than this but it is very off putting, especially the ones sitting by the bank machines as you are getting cash out. I know my mother feels very intimidated by them (and charity ones who come up and ask for your bank details) so much so that she does not go into the city centre anymore. I am positive she is not alone on that.

Comhrá

riverrocked wrote: »

I counted 5 sitting by bins, from the AIB on O'Connell Street to Patrick Street this morning. I know we are supposed to be better than this but it is very off putting, especially the ones sitting by the bank machines as you are getting cash out. I know my mother feels very intimidated by them (and charity ones who come up and ask for your bank details) so much so that she does not go into the city centre anymore. I am positive she is not alone on that.

So true. I avoid O'Connell St. and William St. as much as possible with all these characters squatting with paper cups. They give the city centre a real look of squalor.

The authorities are silent on this situation and then they wonder how they can attract more tourists into town?

Similar situation outside my local LIDL store on the Ennis Road which I've posted about already.

I wrote to LIDL Ireland and they have more or less admitted they can't do much about it. They did say, however, that they have put up a 'no loitering' sign outside the store. That seems to be the sum-total of their efforts.

The reality is that our City Council are so disinterested and the Gardai are so under-resourced and that's why Limerick City Centre is the way it is.

diusmr8a504cvk

Was walking up William Street Monday afternoon and spotted two people going through a bin.

Avatar MIA

It's like a franchise, they each have their spots. If some poor beggar unknowingly sat at the wrong "prime spot" they'd be shifted by the "owner" sharpish.

They make decent money, if you're willing to sell your dignity. A minimum wages job will pay you €9.25 per hour before tax. I'd say they'd get that in a slow 20 minutes, tax free.

at9qu5vp0wcix7

Has anybody encountered the sophisticated beggars in Limerick? I encountered a man (well dressed, Dublin accent) on O'Connell street who was on the phone and seem in a panic. He pretended to hold his call while asking us about the green bus to Dublin (Dubline coach from Arthur's Quay). He pretended that he lost his wallet and couldn't find his friends, and needed a tenner to get the bus home.

He even offered to take our names, numbers and transfer the money into our account afterwards. All very convincing until you see him doing the same thing the following weekend...

jbkenn

Beggars exist, because fools exist, and a fool and his money are soon parted, in this day and age there is no need for anyone to beg.

jbkenn

jbkenn wrote: »

, in this day and age there is no need for anyone to beg.

As long as you don't blow all your dole on cooking sherry, fags, Dutch Gold, and smack that is. :rolleyes:

riverrocked

There seems to be a new gang of them in town today, all sitting on suitcases. The bin on Patrick Street seems to be a new spot too. I have seen a guy there in the last two week blocking the path in the last few days it was a girl on a suitcase.

FutureGuy

Avatar MIA wrote: »

It's like a franchise, they each have their spots. If some poor beggar unknowingly sat at the wrong "prime spot" they'd be shifted by the "owner" sharpish.

They make decent money, if you're willing to sell your dignity. A minimum wages job will pay you €9.25 per hour before tax. I'd say they'd get that in a slow 20 minutes, tax free.

Easily. I sat having lunch in Centra one day and one woman got, I would estimate 12-15 euro in that 30 min period.

Regarding the Roma gang that is begging now, they are really aggressive. No sign of the guards moving them either.

OfTheMarsWongs

OfTheMarsWongs wrote: »

There was a hunched over guy who used to walk with a limp who used beg at St. Mary's Church (not the poet guy). Felt sorry for him till i saw him carrying an amp down William Street. Perfectly upright! Also saw him sans limp selling balloons St. Patrick's Day.

Saw this fella a couple of weeks ago begging at a bin outside Abra. It's weird when you recognise the person and they recognise you, like a staring contest to see who looks away first :-D

Comhrá

FutureGuy wrote: »

Easily. I sat having lunch in Centra one day and one woman got, I would estimate 12-15 euro in that 30 min period.

Regarding the Roma gang that is begging now, they are really aggressive. No sign of the guards moving them either.

And the ambience of the city centre has suffered a lot as a result. It's unfortunate but William St and O'Connell St. are looking more and more Third World as time goes on. Little Garda presence or intervention in evidence.

I posted about the begging situation outside the LIDL store on the Ennis Rd. some time ago and the situation is largely unchanged over the past three years, with one or two people begging on a more or less permanent basis with zero apparent intervention from anyone.

Phoenix Wright

Comhra wrote:

And the ambience of the city centre has suffered a lot as a result. It's unfortunate but William St and O'Connell St. are looking more and more Third World as time goes on. Little Garda presence or intervention in evidence.

This is something I've always thought about Limerick. I don't think I've ever seen a Garda on foot patrol in the city in the middle of the day, even though anti-social behaviour is rampant. The Garda presence is lacklustre to say the least.

Kivaro

I was in there during the week and parked the car outside Centra on O' Connell Street while waiting for someone, and was surprised at the amount of beggars. Real dodgy characters; mix of Irish and Romas.
We had planned to eat and go shopping in the area, but decided against it and headed out to the 'suburbs'.

Such a shame. And not a Guard in sight.

kevinkmb36

there was a guy begging outside Tesco in Roxboro wed night, standing in the way of exit door....dodgy as feck looking too...
they are everywhere..

Avatar MIA

kevinkmb36 wrote: »

there was a guy begging outside Tesco in Roxboro wed night, standing in the way of exit door....dodgy as feck looking too...
they are everywhere..

They are emboldened by lack of intervention. It's as well organised and coordinated as an enterprising business. Look out for an award at the next SFA ceremony.

Avatar MIA

kevinkmb36 wrote: »

there was a guy begging outside Tesco in Roxboro wed night, standing in the way of exit door....dodgy as feck looking too...
they are everywhere..

They are emboldened by lack of intervention. It's as well organised and coordinated as an enterprising business. Look out for an award at the next SFA ceremony.

Avatar MIA

Encouraged by the light touch by the Garda I could see them extending their services to "protection".

stefanovich

Phoenix Wright wrote: »

This is something I've always thought about Limerick. I don't think I've ever seen a Garda on foot patrol in the city in the middle of the day, even though anti-social behaviour is rampant. The Garda presence is lacklustre to say the least.

They are watching you though, from the cameras, or at least I hope so! There seems to be way less trouble in the city centre than there was back in the 90s.

stefanovich

riverrocked wrote: »

There seems to be a new gang of them in town today, all sitting on suitcases. The bin on Patrick Street seems to be a new spot too. I have seen a guy there in the last two week blocking the path in the last few days it was a girl on a suitcase.

I saw them packing quilts into the same suitcases early one morning. I do think they are sleeping rough.

Phoenix Wright

stefanovich wrote: »

They are watching you though, from the cameras, or at least I hope so! There seems to be way less trouble in the city centre than there was back in the 90s.

You'd like to think so, you have to wonder what else they could be doing! I don't know how it was back in the 90s, though I definitely think William Street has gone downhill in the last five years or so.

stefanovich

Phoenix Wright wrote: »

You'd like to think so, you have to wonder what else they could be doing! I don't know how it was back in the 90s, though I definitely think William Street has gone downhill in the last five years or so.

William street was always rough. At least all the crazies on day release are gone. It was like being an extra in one flew over the cuckoo's nest some days.

A_Sober_Paddy

Phoenix Wright wrote: »

You'd like to think so, you have to wonder what else they could be doing! I don't know how it was back in the 90s, though I definitely think William Street has gone downhill in the last five years or so.

In fairness I have seen Garda move braggers along over the last few months, maybe on 6-7 occasions, I work in the city centre so I be there most of my week. Williams Street is a kip, where I work, there was talk of our store relocating to Williams Street.

But reconsidered when will highlighted the problem with shoplifting, and that we'd be unable to do anything about it.

at9qu5vp0wcix7

An middle aged man begging on O'Connell street threatened to shoot me and called me a 'paki' after I refused to give him money

dunworth1

went out to smyths on the Ennis road this morning and there was a guy begging
outside beside the kids play houses

Avatar MIA

stefanovich wrote: »

I saw them packing quilts into the same suitcases early one morning. I do think they are sleeping rough.

Lots of people are of this belief, hence they get money.

kerrylad1

Avatar MIA wrote: »

Lots of people are of this belief, hence they get money.

People would want to stop judging,and painting um all with the same brush.A lad I worked with,begs outside centra,upper William street.He just fell into a trap,of alcohol abuse after some terrible family deaths.Do not judge a book bye it's cover.

Avatar MIA

kerrylad1 wrote: »

People would want to stop judging,and painting um all with the same brush.A lad I worked with,begs outside centra,upper William street.He just fell into a trap,of alcohol abuse after some terrible family deaths.Don't judge a book bye it's cover.

Of course there are genuine cases. But from observation there is an organised element begging in Limerick.

But, even the genuine cases. What do you think he does with the money? Have you tried giving him food instead of money. That can help identify the real from the "professional".

Special Circumstances

dunworth1 wrote: »

went out to smyths on the Ennis road this morning and there was a guy begging
outside beside the kids play houses

Regular fixture there.

kerrylad1

Avatar MIA wrote: »

Of course there are genuine cases. But from observation there is an organised element begging in Limerick.

But, even the genuine cases. What do you think he does with the money? Have you tried giving him food instead of money. That can help identify the real from the "professional".

I have asked him several times to get help,but if I was handed the same Faith as him,I would probably be dead.It can happen to any of us.As I have said,Do not paint them all with the same brush.

Special Circumstances

Avatar MIA wrote: »

But, even the genuine cases. What do you think he does with the money?

You'd have to wonder between all the things you could claim for before you'd HAVE to go out begging, where does it all go?

Special Circumstances

kerrylad1 wrote: »

I have asked him several times to get help,but if I was handed the same Faith as him,I would probably be dead.It can happen to any of us.As I have said,Do not paint them all with the same brush.

Where is the donated money going?

kerrylad1

Special Circumstances wrote: »

You'd have to wonder between all the things you could claim for before you'd HAVE to go out begging, where does it all go?

Lads I don't care what ye say,This lad I worked with for 12 years.Never missed a day,great worker,had a lovely family etc,.And he was not a drinker,To see him now,is very disheartening.

Avatar MIA

kerrylad1 wrote: »

Do not paint them all with the same brush.

As I said, I don't. Giving money to an alcoholic isn't going to solve the problem though. It'll possibly salve the conscience somewhat of the donor though.

kerrylad1

Avatar MIA wrote: »

As I said, I don't. Giving money to an alcoholic isn't going to solve the problem though. It'll possibly salve the conscience somewhat of the donor though.

Where have I said I give him money?.I don't.I usually buy him a sandwich.Be careful what you wish for,it could be you out there next.

Avatar MIA

kerrylad1 wrote: »

Where have I said I give him money?.I don't.I usually buy him a sandwich.Be careful what you wish for,it could be you out there next.

Er, thanks on the good wishes.

Good man on buying him the sandwich though.

Comhrá

kerrylad1 wrote: »

Where have I said I give him money?.I don't.I usually buy him a sandwich.Be careful what you wish for,it could be you out there next.

Fair play to you for being so kind. No doubt there are unfortunate cases but sometimes it's hard to distinguish them from the organised crowd of "career beggars" who find us a soft touch.

Does your friend have a place to live, or does he sleep rough? I often wonder how people have to resort to the street with a fairly good social welfare system available.Maybe there are other reasons....mental health issues where people lose the ability to get proper help and support.

Anyway, You sound like a kind individual so fair play!

Kivaro

Avatar MIA wrote: »

They are emboldened by lack of intervention.

That's the crux of the discussion right there.
City centre businesses will lose money and customers due to this behavior, which is unfortunate. The 'professional' beggars know that there is CCTV in the area but they don't care and operate with impunity. The business owners and residents of the area should demand a change to the status quo.

We have one of most generous social welfare systems in the world, so there should be assistance available for the genuine people who need help.
The others beg on the streets quite simply because people give them money i.e. their begging is financially rewarding.

kerrylad1

Comhra wrote: »

Fair play to you for being so kind. No doubt there are unfortunate cases but sometimes it's hard to distinguish them from the organised crowd of "career beggars" who find us a soft touch.

Does your friend have a place to live, or does he sleep rough? I often wonder how people have to resort to the street with a fairly good social welfare system available.Maybe there are other reasons....mental health issues where people lose the ability to get proper help and support.

Anyway, You sound like a kind individual so fair play!

No,he sleeps in a type of hostel,for the homeless,but they kick him out early every morning.He had a great job,family,everything,and faith dealt him a rotten blow.Lovely guy,but the demon drink has got the better of him.Of course there is organized begging going on,but not everyone is part of that circle.

riverrocked

kerrylad1 wrote: »

Of course there is organized begging going on,but not everyone is part of that circle.

But this thread is about the orgnised begging that seems to have exploded in recent months in the city. Saying "but they are not all like that" is why a lot of people have difficulty in confronting the issue of those who are as no one wants to be the person who calls out beggers. It is impacting on the city in a drastic way. As I mentioned previously my own mother doesn't go into the city centre any more because of it.

kerrylad1

riverrocked wrote: »

But this thread is about the orgnised begging that seems to have exploded in recent months in the city. Saying "but they are not all like that" is why a lot of people have difficulty in confronting the issue of those who are as no one wants to be the person who calls out beggers. It is impacting on the city in a drastic way. As I mentioned previously my own mother doesn't go into the city centre any more because of it.

I'm pointing out that,it's NOT all organised.Over and out.

stefanovich

Avatar MIA wrote:

Lots of people are of this belief, hence they get money.

Okay but I saw 4 of them, with suitcases, packing quilts into them at 7am across from Brown Thomas. Two girls and two men. Seemed they had slept in the doorway.